Gender Confusion The Docterine Danny
by Elena Forest
Summary: ADOPTED FROM WINGSOFMORPHIUS Danny's life is confusing enough with ghostly battles and searching for his parents, not to mention butting horns with Vlad. But with a new roomate in the mix...
1. Fenton and Phantom

**You may have noticed that this story is adopted from WingsofMorphius. They are the original owner, yadda yadda yadda. So far they have 19 chaps, and I'm gonna be editing them before I re-post 'em. I'll pick up at chap 20/ So bare with me till then, please! I'm begging you! **

**Now! Chapter uno! :D**

_Okay, this is something I've been nagged about writing for a while now, but I only just got around to it. Actually, it's more like I was both threatened AND blackmailed into writing it. I keep saying it'll never be as interesting as Sam's, but everyone who knows my side is so dead set on it that there's no point in arguing._

_Sam started off with an introduction, so I should probably do the same. To start off, My full name is Daniel John Fenton, but only my mom ever called me that, and only when I do something wrong. Hearing my full name was always a good sign to make myself invisible, even before I had ghost powers._

_Unlike Sam's family, mine was so bizarre and wild to the outside world that Jazz refused to be seen with anyone but me in public, and even that was only in dire situations. My parents were considered insane by everyone who met them, at least until the ghost attacks started up. Then they became heroes._

_My Mom and Dad are Jack and Maddie Fenton. Both are ghost hunters, and pretty good ones too. I can say that because I've been up enough ghost hunters to know the good from the bad. Yeah, you read that line right. Don't worry, it's explained more later._

_And as for Jazz, as long as I can remember she has had perfect grades and popularity. Unlike me, one of the most unpopular guys at Casper High School for Boys. She was also constantly butting heads with Mom and Dad over the whole ghost hunting thing, too. At least up until they disappeared and we were forced to live with my Dad's best friend from college and my archenemy, Vlad Masters. I guess that's where my story really starts…_

"All packed?"

I sighed and looked up from my suitcase, making a face at my sister as she stood stubbornly in the doorway.

"Yes, Jazz…" I recited for the millionth time that day.

"You have all the homework you did over the summer?" She pressed, hearing and ignoring my irritation as usual.

"It's in my portfolio," I answered, "And I have all my uniforms, weapons and everything else I need all packed away too, before you ask."

"Did you make sure to pack plenty of clean underwear?"

"JA-AZZ!" I yelled, my face burning in embarrassment.

"I was just checking!" Jazz said defensively. "You can never be too careful, Danny, and we won't be coming back to Vlad's until Christmas," I noticed with some pride that like me my sister still refused to call Vlad's cold Packers-decked castle 'home.' It was a small sign of the weak resistance we had against the billionaire, but it was enough.

Yes, I said billionaire. Vlad Masters was the richest, and therefore most powerful, man in the United States, and Master Corps. They made everything from household appliances to weapons of war, which was a pretty unsettling thought when you know what a serious crazed up fruit loop Vlad is.

Not that it matters much, Vlad doesn't have much interest in NORMAL deadly weapons. That's why as far as his company went, the apple of old Vladdy's eye was the Paranormal Department, Dalv.

Dalv was run mainly by himself and a ghost lackey of his named Skulker, the self acclaimed greatest hunter in the Ghost Zone. Really, he was just a blobby frog looking thing in a supped up suit, but something I figured out pretty early on was that each ghost has to have a 'thing.' Even me and Vlad, if you think about it.

I should probably explain now before I confuse you guys anymore; If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm not a normal 15 year old high school kid. About two years ago my parents finished the Fenton Ghost Portal, a link between two separate realities, the ghost one and the human one. The problem was, though, it didn't work.

So I got the idea to show it to my best friend since pretty much the diaper days, Tucker Foley. Unlike me, Tucker loved everything with wires attached and he was determined to help get the portal working. As his best friend and the sole son of the inventors, I got sucked into it pretty easily, so I was the one inside the stupid thing when we figured out what was wrong and fixed it without thinking. Stupid, I know.

The shock I got from the portal was the most pain I'd ever had in my life. Tucker told me it only lasted ten seconds, but it felt more like ten YEARS. I thought I was going to die…

Ironic, now that I really think about it.

Anyways, this is when the story gets weird. After I got the shock, my appearance changed. My black hair turned snow-white, and my blue eyes to a bright neon green. I wasn't ready to accept what had happened to me, so I tried to reason it off as a hallucination brought on by the pain.

That lasted until noon that day, when I fell through the floor, invisible and intangible.

Naturally, I was very, very freaked out by these changes, as was an extremely guilt-ridden Tucker. It took us three more days to finally figure out that the portal had given me ghost powers and a very cool superhero alter ego of Danny Phantom.

Hey, EVERY kid dreams of being a superhero, right?

Anyways, after about four months of battling the forces of the world of the paranormal, I was finally starting to get control of my powers, which was good since I was also about to enter high school. That was when Mom and Dad were called to Transylvania to do some research in some haunted ruins, and sent me and Jazz to live with dear old Uncle Vlad.

I admit, at first it was pretty cool. Vlad was cocky, but ignorable, and he did have a cool rich dude house with technology that Tucker would kill a squad of cheerleaders to see for three minutes. The Packers décor was a little creepy, but once again ignorable.

Then the stupid bird ghost came…

Apparently, Vlad had all of his ghostly servants on the low while we were living there, but the vultures screwed up and came in too early. I sensed them and automatically took action, only to find myself losing a battle with Plasmius.

The next day, Vlad confronted me, telling me that he had been a halfa for about twenty years more then I had. He was interested in making me his apprentice, since we were the only two halfas in existence. The training and the fact that I'd have all the resources he'd acquired in those twenty years at my fingertips in a heartbeat sounded cool, but the fact that I'd have to renounce my father and pretty much all my morality to get them?

Yeah, that wasn't so great.

"Danny? You okay?" Jazz asked curiously.

"Fine, Jazz," I answered immediately.

"You're not coming down with something, are you?" She pressed on, feeling my forehead despite my protests. "You do feel a bit warmer…"

"Jazz, my body temperature is forty degrees lower then any other living creature on the planet, not including Vlad." I reminded her, "I'm the human Frosty the Snowman!" my sister rolled her eyes.

"I meant you feel warm for you!" She said, her cheeks tingeing with pink. "Hang on, I have a thermometer in my purse…"

"Lemme guess, right next to the stethoscope and beneath the syringe," I said dryly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Danny, my stethoscope would never fit in here," Jazz said absently, "Ah! Here we go!" Before I could protest, the object in question was jammed under my tongue. "Keep it there for a minute," My sister ordered. I rolled my eyes.

"Jazz…" I said in exasperation. Though the Thermometer made it sound more like _'Thad.'_

"Don't complain, Danny, If you get sick at school they'll send you straight to the Infirmary and you'll be exposed!" Jazz, who was well-versed in Thermometer-ese scowled, "It's best to nip any illnesses before they get a chance to start!" I rolled my eyes again. She was right, but I could think of hundreds of things that were likely to happen before I admitted that, and one of them involved Tucker winning Mr. Universe.

"I feel fine," I told her (_Ah theel dine_,)

"Well sure, that's what you always say," Jazz said absently. "But your chemicals in your body react differently now. Besides, there are illnesses that have few or no symptoms!"

"I'm not going to keel over right in front of you, Jazz," I told her firmly. (_Ah'm mot gunnah kell ower white in nunna oo, Thad_)

"I know," Jazz sighed, "I just don't want to take any chances, alright?" I shook my head, taking the thermometer out and reading it.

"Fifty nine degrees on the dot, Jazz," I told her. Then, teasingly, I added, "Wow, that IS a record high for me!" My sister rolled her eyes.

"Gimme that!" She said, snatching the thermometer away, "Hmph! Human Polar Bear…" I laughed.

"Hey now, doesn't name calling cause some sort of psychological unbalance?" I asked, backing away slightly just in case. Half ghost or not, poking fun at Jazz's favorite subject right in front of her was just asking for trouble Jazz glared at me, but didn't make a move to harm me bodily.

"Haha." She grumbled sarcastically. "You're sure you have everything?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, Mom," I chimed out.

"Don't even joke!" Jazz said, making a face.

Her greatest fear was turning into a carbon copy of our ghost hunting parents. The was already getting irritated with how many people told her that she was the spitting image of her mother at sixteen.

Luckily, I didn't have that problem, considering that Dad's was a good three feet taller then me and four times as wide at my age. He insisted that big bones ran in his family, but I figured it had more to do with the junk food he'd always scarf down.

Though it is true that Great Auntie Lizzie was a pretty big woman…

"Well, if you have everything, I guess we can leave now…" Jazz said, sighing and looking around my room, "We've got a long way to go, and I still gotta see what Matt's big emergency is."

"Right," I said, shouldering my bags, "Is _**He**_ awake yet?"

"Not that I know of," Jazz answered softly, glancing at the door. "But yeah, probably. When have we ever been able to slip past him before?" I felt my grip on my bag tighten at that casual statement, bitterly aware of the truth in it.

Ghosts were obsessive creatures by nature, and Vlad and I were no exceptions. But while I was obsessed with making sure my friends and family were safe, Vlad was obsessed with getting what he wanted and didn't have, which was a list that so far consisted of three things; my Mom, the Packers and Me.

And since I was in his house, there was no way I could escape him. No matter which way I turned, no matter what I did, whenever I was in Vlad's house I felt like there were always eyes watching my every move. Which is NOT a fun feeling, by the way…

"Let's leave before we have to find out," I advised, grabbing Jazz's bags for her and making my way to the private elevator only Me Vlad and Jazz could use which was activated with fancy silver keys he'd given us on the first day there.

"You can go down without me, you know," Jazz said as I put my key in and pushed the down button. Jazz and I were on the second floor from the top of Vlad's six story castle, and the entire top and basement floors were reserved for Vlad. "It'll be faster that way.

"No way," I said stubbornly. "I can't take both you and all the luggage down all at once, and I'm not taking the risk that one of us runs into Vlad alone." Jazz cringed.

"Point," She acknowledged, taking some of the bags from me. We both turned as the elevator doors chimed, only to freeze in place.

"Ah, Daniel, Jasmine," Vlad said smoothly, smirking down at us. "What a surprise to see you two up so early…" I scowled and glared at the billionaire, while Jazz just tensed and looked between us worriedly.

"Good morning, Mr. Masters." She said in a high, tense tone. "Danny and I were hoping to leave without waking you,"

"I bet," Vlad drawled out, amused. My glare darkened.

"Yeah, well, we have a long way to drive so we'd better get started if we want to make it there in time to settle in!" Jazz said hastily, pushing me towards the stairs.

"Don't be silly, dear, the elevator has plenty of room," Vlad called out to us, holding the door open.

"Being cramped in a small, confined space with you?" I shot back. "I think I'd rather marry Walker."

"We'll be fine on our own, Mr. Masters," Jazz said, elbowing me sharply.

"I insist you at least let me walk you to the car," the older halfa said, taking some of the bags and hauling them into the elevator, "After all, it will be the last time I see you in a while…" My glare darkened, but Jazz gave me a hopeless shrug and entered the elevator. I sighed irritably before getting in myself, not about to let the only family I had left be trapped with a psychotic half-ghost billionaire.

The whole way to the ground floor Jazz and Vlad made tense conversation while I just glared holed into the back of Vlad's head. Finally we made our way out the door and to the car. Just before I could get in, though, Vlad grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Don't think this is all over yet, Daniel," he whispered so Jazz couldn't hear. "Some day soon you will join me, you can count on that," I scowled.

"Don't hold your breath," I told him, pulling my arm free and getting into the car. I slammed the door behind me for emphasis. Smirking into the rearview mirror, I watched as Vlad and his castle get smaller and smaller…

'_FREEDOM!'_

_***_

"070… 071… 072… 073!" I grinned at the room that would be my home for my Sophomore year of High school, sliding my plaque in place before I went inside.

As usual, the inside of the apartment was pretty much bare essentials. A couch, a coffee table a small, empty entertainment center and a desk. There were also three doors, one which led to the bathroom and the other two to bedrooms.

Putting all my bags down, I took out the one labeled _'Electronics'_ and opened it up. A few minutes later my TV, Game Station and a DVD player were all set up on the entertainment center, along with some of the RPGs, Fighters and FPSs' I favored.

Hey, maybe there would be a slow day ghost-wise some time and I'd get to actually play some this year…

My laptop went over to the desk, after some careful consideration. Sure I wanted to have enough of my stuff out as a peace offering that my roomie wouldn't snitch on me for what promised to be another year of semi-constant curfew breaking, but a lot of my Ghost info was filed away on there. After a while, though, I decided it was safe.

After all, that stuff was all password protected, and there was no way my roommate would guess that…

With all of that out of the way, I turned to the two bedrooms, deciding to take the smaller one so that once again my roommate my decide he liked me enough not to tattle. Besides, it wasn't like I'd be in there too often anyways. It'd just be the place I would crash or bind my wounds if I couldn't make it to Tucker or Jazz…

Anyways, my stereo was set up in there, along with my second, completely ghost filled computer and all my ghost hunting gear, which consisted of three Fenton Thermoses, a pair of Ghost Gloves, a Ghost Weasel, two Ghost Fishers, Three pairs of Fenton Phones, the Fenton Peeler, a Specter Deflector, two Jack-O-Nine-Tails, a Porta-Portal, The Boo-Merang and several different Ecto-guns of various designs and sizes.

Most of the stuff was mainly used by Jazz or Tucker when they helped me, but sometimes I'd use something too. Mostly I used the Thermos, since it was easier to carry then the Porta-Portal, and less likely to suck me into the Ghost Zone.

I was just finishing up putting my clothes away when my cell phone started to ring. Knowing that it was either Jazz calling to tell me there was something she forgot to tell me or Tucker checking in so we could meet up, I grabbed it and turned it on.

"'Lo?"

"Yo, Danny!" my best friend responded so I could almost hear his grin, "Miss me?" I rolled my eyes.

"Nah, I loved spending two months under Vlad's thumb." I said sarcastically. Tucker laughed.

"Ouch, that bad?" He chuckled. "Any ghosts? Besides Plasmius, I mean…"

"Just a few attacks from Skulker and Technus, mostly," I shrugged, "Not including the daily annoyance that is the Box Ghost. For some reason, not many ghosts like being in range of Plasmius' attacks…" I feigned confusion for the last part, earning another laugh from the tech-geek on the other end of the line. "What about you?"

"Me? I'm just glad to get away from my brothers…" I smiled knowingly, confident that Tucker was cringing in the other line. "They still don't like that I'm small enough that they can crush me with one hand, yet I'm the one in the private school district."

"At least they give you breathing room," I told him.

"Not when they're busy crushing my windpipes by strangling me." He replied and I could practically hear him rolling his eyes. I had to laugh, but half way through it turned into a gasp as a chill ran through my body, which was not a pleasant combination. Not something I'm going to want to repeat any time soon… "Ghost time already?" Tucker asked brightly, recognizing the sound even over the phone.

"In the computer lab," I responded, grabbing a thermos and going ghost, "Meet me in five minutes?"

"You know it," We hung up at the same time, and I dropped my cell into my ghost hunting backpack and flew through the wall to the outside, invisible to those on the ground.

It only took me about three minutes to get to the computer lab, considering that I could fly and walk through walls. When I got there, I found a familiar geeky-looking ghost laughing loudly as he hovered over the computers.

"Yes, yes, YES!" He yelled. "AT LAST! I, _**TECHNUS**_, Master of all things electronic and hip, can use this school's top of the line computers and various other electrical appliances to take over this city and then, the WORLD!"

"Done?" I asked in a bored tone, crossing my arms and giving the ghost an unimpressed look.

Really, how many world domination speeches does a guy have to sit through…?

"GHOST CHILD!" Technus yelled, making me roll my eyes.

"Why are you still surprised every time I show up to thwart your take over the world schemes?" I asked him dryly.

"Ah-HA!" Technus exclaimed, "But this time, child, my plan is fool-proof! There is no way you can defeat me!" My eyebrow kicked up as Technus began the whole 'diabolical laugh' thing, and without saying a word I blasted the main power box for the computer lab, sending the place into darkness. "…Aww poo…!"

Smirking, I charged up my ecto beam again without releasing it, powering my fists as I used Technus as my undead punching bag for a good two minutes until a right uppercut sent him flying outside with a scream. I followed, spotting Tucker on the ground fighting his way past a crowd of guys that were heading the other way. After one more glance at the dazed Technus, I flew down to greet my friend.

"Aw man, if I knew it was just Technus, I wouldn't have ran all this way!" Tucker complained.

"I need to fix up things in the Computer Lab before I get into too much trouble." I told him, throwing him the thermos. "Can you finish this up and Take him back to the Ghost Portal?"

"Can I drive the Specter Speeder?" Tucker asked, brightening. Rolling my eyes, I threw him the keys. "I am SO there!"

"Don't forget to cloak it in public!" I called as he ran off to finish his task, remembering who I was dealing with, I also added, "AND DON'T DROP THE THERMOS THIS TIME!"

I frowned when Tucker showed no signs of having heard me, before sighing and flying back through the wall to see exactly how much damage Technus and I had done to the once nice and neat computer lab.

I cringed when I saw that the power box was melted and morphed beyond repair. That would definitely need to be replaced… The teacher's desk was split right down the middle, too. That was the only major damage, though, the rest of it just looked back because it was all shattered papers and keyboards knocked off the desk.

"I'm telling you, there's a ghost in here!" I froze at the voice of one of Tucker computer friends, Mikey Something-or-Another. "Honest, Mr. Lancer, it took over my computer!"

"Well, we'll see know, won't we?" The headmaster said suspiciously.

Okay, that was my cue to leave…

"_**AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

"Tucker?" I said in alarm, wheeling around. It was stupid of me, since I forgot all about Lancer, who opened the door like three seconds later and caught me red handed.

At least, he thought he did.

"Told you, Mr. Lancer!" Mikey said triumphantly.

"It's not what you-!" I stopped, realizing that I was getting blamed no matter what I said and let out a sigh of irritation, "Oh, why do I bother…" Deciding Tucker was the bigger concern, I flew out the wall.

I got out just in time to see Technus disappearing in the distance, and got worried when I didn't see Tucker anywhere. After a short mental debate, I flew after Technus, pulling out my cell again and hitting the speed dial for my best friend.

"Hello?"

"Tucker? Where are you? What happened?" I asked immediately.

"I'm in the Bell Tower. Technus stuck me in here after… um…" I frowned suspiciously as my friend trailed off.

"You dropped the Thermos again, didn't you?" I asked dryly.

"No! What gave you that idea?" Tucker asked in a guilty tone followed by a nervous laugh. I rolled my eyes. And Jazz says _**I**_ have a short attention span…

"Well stay there! I'll get you down after I stop Technus."

"Believe me, dude, I'm not going anywhere…" I sighed after I hung up and turned my cell phone off before putting it away.

"Is a clear headed sidekick that doesn't flip out every time I get a scratch really too much to ask for?" I grumbled as I picked up the speed to catch the ghost.

***

Six hours, twelve injuries and a busted up electronic store later, I had caught up with Technus and managed to stop his latest world domination scheme, which meant right now I was on a shaky path to a familiar and very much missed house.

FentonWorks was a very noticeable home crammed in an otherwise normal neighborhood. It'd stood more or less empty for almost a year now, except when Tucker Jazz and I met there to talk about ghost stuff. All the ecto-goo traps kept kids from vandalizing it, so it was pretty much untouched.

I paused in the living room for a second, noticing how much dust was starting to build up. I frowned, knowing how much my parents would hate that because it would get into the experiments and mess up sterile projects. 'Cleanliness is key for experiments,' was always a favorite saying of my mom's whenever I complained about having to do chores as a kid. I laughed a little at that memory and, unable to resist, I slipped back up to my room.

It was completely bare, just as I'd left it when I first went to Vlad's. Most of my stuff was still over there, or waiting to be unpacked back in my room. I almost couldn't recognize the room as mine without all my old stuff, but the same feel was still there.

I made my way over to where my bed used to be, lying on the carpet and staring up at my ceiling like I used to do a million and one times growing up. I smiled slightly when I saw the scorch marks on the ceiling from when my ecto-blasts first upgraded to blasting out my eyes, too. Scared the crap outta me the first time it happened, and Mom and Dad started panicking, thinking the house was under attack…

"Knock, knock," an amused voice said softly at the door. I blinked and looked up to see Jazz smiling over at me. "I knew you'd be here," She said, coming over and sitting next to me. She picked up the Thermos, rattling it around a bit. "Who was it today?"

"Technus," I answered. "Another world domination plot,"

"He never learns, does he?" Jazz drawled out, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, it makes my job easier," I quipped. Jazz laughed.

"You didn't get hurt, did you?" She asked.

"Nah," I responded. "Barely touched me. What did Matt want?"

"Oh, just asking for a favor," Jazz said vaguely. We sat in silence for a while, feeling a little lonely in the empty room. Jazz broke it, though, by bringing up the one thing neither of us wanted to talk about. "They aren't coming back, you know,"

"Of course they are," I said stubbornly, "Mom and Dad would never let a ghost get 'em. Even if they did, I would've heard about if from someone in the Ghost Zone. Two Fentons killed at once would be big news," Jazz gave me a watery smile at that.

"Yeah, guess that's true…" she agreed.

"The only thing that would've made them happier was if it was the two of us," I continued. Jazz giggled at that.

"I know that's true," She said, her smile growing. "You more then me, though."

"I dunno," I responded. "You made an enemy out of Spectra when you used the Fenton Peeler on her, and I know you're one of the few things that Vlad's scared of after that incident last Christmas Break,"

"Danny!" Jazz said, laughing at the memory. "What was I supposed to do, anyways? Sit there and let him warp your mind?"

"I didn't say I wasn't grateful," I protested. "It's just that I even I didn't want to be within three feet of you with anything that might pass as a weapon for a week after that." Jazz's laugher grew at that.

"You're a little creep you know," She giggled. "Did you pick up all your stuff?" I blinked, then stiffened, my eyes going wide. Jazz smirked and held up a manila envelope with my name on it. "I bought all your supplies and books, too," I sighed in relief.

"You're a lifesaver, Jazz," I told my sister.

"And don't you forget it," She responded proudly. "Oh, and I also got Tucker down from the Bell Tower." I cringed.

…_Oops…_

"You would've left him there all night, would you?" Jazz asked dryly. I gave her a guilty smile, and she sighed loudly. "Oh, Danny…"

"Well, we'd better get back," I said, standing up, "I'll get Technus back into the Ghost Zone,"

"Don't forget to call me once a week," Jazz reminded me absently as we left. "And come straight to my apartment whenever you get hurt."

"Yes, Mother," I said mockingly. Jazz gave me an ugly look.

"Oh, and Danny?" I cringed, expecting retaliation. To my surprise, Jazz just ruffled my hair and gave me a tender smile. "I'm really proud of you, you know," She kissed me lightly on the forehead before heading out. I smiled slightly, glad I had at least Jazz's support, before I realized what had just taken place.

"Aw, Gross!"

***

Riiiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiiiing!'

Beep!

'_Hi, you've reached Danny. I'm probably busy right now, so leave your name and message after the- OW! Back off, you little-! Beep!'_

"Danny? It's Tuck. I know your there, Danny, pick up!"

I groaned, burying myself deeper into my pillow…

"Oh, come on, Danny, I know you're not cold enough to ignore your best friend!"

…I pulled my covers up more…

"Fine! If that's how you wanna play, how about a melody of Ember's hits?"

…Then I dived for the phone.

"Alright, Alright!" I said, a bit frantic. "I'm here, don't sing!"

"I should take offence to that, you know," Tucker said conversationally.

"What do you want, Tucker?" I groaned, shaking my head.

"Just wanted to call and make sure you'd meet me for lunch." Tucker responded. I scowled.

"You woke me up for THAT?" I asked.

"No, I woke you up because you already missed dinner last night, AND this morning's breakfast. You may be half ghost, but you've gotta eat some time," I blinked, glancing at the clock. I couldn't help but wince when I was it was already nearly noon.

"…Oh," I said, "Well, alright. Just gimme ten minutes to shower and fly down there,"

"_Gotcha," _Tucker responded, "See you then, Danny!"I sighed as I replaced the receiver. Grumbling, I grabbed a towel and padded over to the bathroom, yawning as I went.

That Technus had worn me out so much proved I was outta shape hunting-wise. At the end of last year, I could've taken him and the Lunch Lady on at the same time, blindfolded.

Please don't ask why they were together, living it once was bad enough…

I undressed in the bathroom, throwing my clothes into a whicker basket in the corner before stepping into the shower. I hadn't seen any one else's stuff in the living room, so my roommate probably hadn't come yet. Not that it really mattered. So long as I wasn't roommates with Dash Baxter again, I'd be perfectly happy with whoever I did have.

Of course, to be fair Dash was only my roommate for two weeks. That was actually longer then any other roomie I'd had since becoming half ghost, not including the one year I was lucky enough to get Tuck. Most of the time I end up rooming alone, which suited me just fine.

It's not that I'm anti-social, it's just that my life is complicated enough as it is without dragging new people into it. Besides, how could anyone shove that burden on a person? Keeping to myself is much less headache…

And anyways it wasn't like I was lonely or anything, right? I mean, I had Jazz and Tucker, they were the best support a guy could ask for. I tried the dating thing for a while, but that didn't work since I'd always leave with little or no explanation, and the girls would get mad and think I was cheating on them or something.

I shook my head and gave a wry smile at that, reaching for the shampoo. Part of me was always insulted that they could think I was the cheating type. Especially since I was lucky to have one girlfriend at a time, forget two.

Anyways, one ghosts started attacking my girlfriends I decided to call it quits as far as dating went. They were just normal girls, after all, and no one deserved the pressure that came with being attacked to Danny Phantom, the Ghost Kid of Amity Park.

I sighed and finished my shower, drying off and stepping out into the living room. To my surprise, there was a kid already standing there, short, skinny and oddly red in the face. Realizing belatedly who this had to be, I smiled as warmly as possible, wanting to make a good first impression.

"Oh, you must be my roommate." I said, "Sorry, didn't hear you come in. I'm Danny. Danny Fenton."

**Whew! Long chap! Okay, till next time! (Which will be pretty soon, hopefully...)**

**~Elena**


	2. Sam

**Eehee, all the views/comments (3 reviews on GC S) made me want to work (cougheditcough) faster! :D So yea, here is chapter 2!**

A minute passed. Five minutes. And the newcomer was still giving me that blank stare. To be honest, it was starting creep me out…

"Hey, you okay?" I asked my new roommate, "You look a little red…"

_What's with this guy? _I thought, eyeing him curiously as he finally got it together.

"Fine," He squeaked out. Then he cleared his throat in an almost self-conscious way before repeating the word. "Fine. Just a little head rush from the trip. Jetlag and all, you know…" I flinched knowingly at that.

"Don't like planes, huh?" I said, finally understanding the reason behind his weird behavior. Tucker was the same way on an airplane, though he was fine whenever he went flying with me. Go figure, huh? I stood there a few minutes longer as I thought about this, until my new roommate realized he still hadn't given me his name.

"Uh, I'm Samuel." He introduced himself at last, offering me a hand to shake. He made a little face at his first name. "Samuel Manson. Sam, _please_."

"Nice to meet you." I said, taking the offered hand in a polite handshake. I was a little surprised at how soft and smooth the guy's hand's were. Almost like my sisters… "You like art?" I motioned to my open portfolio, which the guy had been looking through before I came into the room.

"Oh!" he said, understanding at last. "Yeah, I came here to get into animation,"

"Really?"

_Awesome!_ I cheered in my mind. My roommates in the past were almost always jocks. Big, mean, creepy jocks who made my life miserable. _He's a little jumpy, but this Sam guy seems pretty cool. I think I could get used to him…_

"Cool! I'm taking more graphic arts myself." Then, remembering Vlad's 'adjustments' to my scheduled, I added, "Well, in addition to all those stupid business classes," that came out more bitter then I'd wanted it to, and Sam winced in sympathy because of it.

"Controlling father?" he guessed.

"Worst," I answered dryly. A little nervous about the subject matter, I decided to change topic before he asked any more about Vlad. "Anyways, is this your first year at CHS?"

"Yeah," my roomie answered. "I went to a different private high before."

"Really?" I asked, frowning a little as I thought about this, "I've been in the Casper district for forever…" Vlad had paid for us to go since Jazz and I were kids, a fruitless attempt to get mom to fall in love with him and impress us with his money.

It didn't work, though. The only thing I honestly liked about Casper was Tucker. And the fact that it got me away from Vlad. As I thought about my best friend, I looked at the clock, my insides freezing up when I swathe time. Cursing, I ran into my room to throw on an outfit.

"Uhhhhh…. Danny?" my roommate called as I searched for my clothes.

"Hang on, Sam," I responded, as I grabbed a pair of shorts. "I've got five minutes to meet Tuck in the Dining Hall before he orders for me!" I shuddered at the thought alone. "You wanna come with? Tucker's not into art, but something tells me you'll like him." Tucker and Sam seemed like they could get really close really fast.

"Sure," Sam answered as I grabbed a shirt, heading for the door.

"Great," I said, buttoning the shirt hastily as I left, ignoring my still-damp hair. I shut my door behind me, not wanting Sam to see my arsenal. That would have been hard to explain. "We'd better hurry, though. When it comes to food, Tucker is merciless."

After grabbing my keys, I pulled my new roommate out the door and towards the stairs, wanting to cut as much time as possible.

"No time for the elevator?" Sam asked when he saw this.

"Too slow." I answered. "Besides, exercise is supposed to be good for you…"

"Speak for yourself…" Sam muttered. Lost in thought for a moment, Sam finally shook it off to ask me; "So what kind of guy is this Tucker, anyways?" I rolled my eyes at the question.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you…" I said in dry honesty. Tucker was the weirdest person I ever met, and that was saying something if you take into account the whole ghost thing.

"…Huh?"

I chuckled a little and gave Sam a smile, but didn't say anything else for the rest of our little trip. Far be it from me to deprive myself of the expression people got when meeting Tucker for the first time, especially when it was over a meal…

Cue another shudder as well as a chuckle.

We beat Tuck to the cafeteria, and even managed to get some food and a seat before he showed.

…Well, _I _got food…

"No caviar?" Sam teased me. I made a face at the thought.

"Pass on the fish eggs," I said dryly. Then I smirked at Sam's salad. "No _food_?"

"Vegetarian, thank you very much," Sam responded. I blinked, a little surprised.

"Really? That explains why you're so small… no offence."

"None taken," Sam said with a small smile as he began to eat. I laughed to myself, shaking my head as I suddenly got a better idea for exactly what kind of first meeting Sam and Tuck would have.

"You know, maybe I was wrong to think you and Tuck could get along well…" I said in amusement.

"Really?" Sam blinked, with his lettuce half way to his mouth. "Why?"

"Danny!" I grinned at Tucker as he made his way over to me, his usual lunch selection in tow. My grin widened when I saw the look on Sam's face. It was all I could do not to laugh hysterically at my new friend's expression.

"I see you're still alive and in one piece," Tucker grinned, as he sat down in the seat across from me and next to Sam. "So to speak, anyways. Who's this?"

"It wasn't that hard to take care of, Tuck, just Technus." I reminded my friend airily, frowning in irritation that he would make cracks about the halfa thing in public. I didn't mind the jokes when it was just the two of us, but when there was an audience… "This is Samuel, my new roommate. Sam, this is Tucker, my best friend since elementary school."

"Pleasure, my dear amigo!" Tucker said, shaking Sam's hand vigorously, "And if you ever have any problem with working the electronics in this joint, feel free to call on me. I'm willing to help no matter what! For a small fee, of course,"

"Of course," I snorted, grinning. Tucker would dance around naked on the roof for the right price, and he knew I knew it.

"What? A guy's gotta eat, you know!" Tucker said defensively. Then he fixed Sam with a pointed look. "Speaking of which, where the heck is your food? You planning on feeding your pet rabbit or something?"

"He's a vegetarian." I answered before Sam could tell him the same thing, delighting once again in the complete mortification that danced across my friend's face. I knew this was coming as soon as Sam said he was a vegetarian.

"No meat?" He wailed, a look of utter distress on his face. "Man, how do you live?" I bit back a laugh. Tucker, I knew, couldn't survive a full day without eating another once-living animal at least once.

"A lot healthier then you do, that's for sure," Sam responded, shuttering after one more glance at his plate. I grinned as I watched my friends bicker, pretty much forgotten as soon as the more pressing matter of dietary habits came up.

"Hey, I need the energy," Tucker said defensively, "I was woken up at the most insane hour this morning to be drilled by my aunt. My cousin's friend ran away and now the entire upper-class society knows it. Or those closely connected with them, at any rate." Sam froze up for some weird reason, and I frowned, deciding to get back into the conversation.

"Really?" I asked. It wasn't normal for rich kids to run away… "Wow, when did she run off?"

"Last night, apparently."

"What's your cousin's name?" Sam asked abruptly. His face was a bit pale.

"Tina Foley," Tucker responded, frowning in confusion, "Why?"

"Just curious." Sam said a little too quickly, with a nonchalant shrug. I frowned a little. That was weird… ah, well, it wasn't like Sam could know anything about the missing girl, right?

"Anyways, between that and the fact that I spent all last night hanging from the bell tower, I didn't get any sleep." I choked back a laugh at the look Sam gave Tucker after that one.

"Why did you spend all night in the bell tower?" He asked, frowning. "_How_ did you get in the bell tower?" I stiffened at that question, knowing that the kid probably knew about all that security in the Bell Tower

"No reason," I said at the same time as Tucker. I gave him an uneasy look. This Sam kid was sharper then he looked. I was going to have to be careful if I wanted my secret to survive another school year…

"So, Sam, where you from?" Tucker asked as he started to eat. I relaxed slightly, knowing that my friend was trying to change the topic to distract my new roommate. I turned my attention back to Sam just in time to see him shutter violently.

"New York," He answered Tucker. I couldn't help but grin at the newcomer's reaction to my best friend's eating habits. Giving into temptation, I leaned forward so Tuck wouldn't hear what I wanted to tell my new roomie.

"Yeah, it scares me, too," I admitted, motioning to Tucker who had just finished off a small herd of cattle in the form of several hamburgers. "and I'm not even a vegetarian." I made a face at Tucker, who was still oblivious to everything that wasn't on his plate, and Sam choked back a laugh.

"You gotta girl back in New York?" Tucker asked Sam. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

_Should've seen this one coming…_ I thought dryly. When it came to girls, my best friend was obsessed to say the very least. Don't get me wrong, I like them, too, but Tuck was horrible. I honestly didn't know how Val put up with him some times…

"No," Sam answered, his face hardening slightly. Guess he didn't like the subject, either…

"Join the club." I joked dryly, "Tuck and I are single, too."

"Really?" Was it just me, or did Sam sound HAPPY about that? Really, who was this guy?

"Yep." Tucker said sadly, "Well, technically Valerie is my sort-of girlfriend, but Danny doesn't even have that to fall back on. Course, he's have girls swarming all over him if he just told them he was the heir to-!" I felt my heart skip a beat as I realized what Tucker was about to say, and hastily kicked him under the table, "_**OW!**_" I glared at Tucker as he held the leg I'd kicked. Apparently, I'd gotten him harder then I'd meant to, but I honestly didn't feel all too sorry for my best friend at the moment.

"It's nothing." I growled when I saw Sam's curious look. "Right, Tuck?"

"Yeah…" Tucker said, shifting in his seat, "Nothing. Nothing at all… So, you like sports, Sam?"

"No," Sam answered bluntly.

"Good," Tucker nodded his approval. "Naturally, you will be accompanying me and Danny to the next football game."

"I just said I didn't like sports." Sam said, sounding a little annoyed.

"Neither do we," Tucker said, "Well, I don't, and neither of us like football. Still, Casper High football games means that all the hot Wendy Girls are gonna be there. And that Danny's sister is gonna fuss over him again, which is always fun to watch," Tucker snickered and I rolled my eyes, biting back a groan at the thought of Jazz's constant hovering.

"You've got a sister in Wendy?" Sam asked, bemused.

"Yeah," I sighed. "And she thinks I'm gonna spontaneously combust every time I'm out of her sight for more then ten minutes." I gave Sam a slight glare when I caught his grin after I'd said that.

"You got any siblings?" Tucker asked.

"Naw," Sam said. "Just some cousins."

"Lucky," Tucker made a face, "I've got two older siblings, one younger one and about a gazillion cousins."

"Last I checked, gazillion wasn't a number," Sam said, smirking.

_You obviously never met Tuck's family tree._ I thought, ducking my head to hide an amused smirk and a chuckle.

The Foleys were a large, tight-knit family, really warm and friendly and just was a normal family should be like. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but there are definitely times I'd been frustrated because my parents spaced on some school thing in favor of an impromptu ghost hunting trip. Of course, things like that always meant more to Jazz then me, but I would've liked to do something normal every once in a while.

Getting back to the Foley's, though, any time Tucker's parents hosted a party at their place, I was always invited to join. I usually did, too, since my parents weren't big on Easter and Thanksgiving, and Christmas was always a tense time in the Fenton house, because of 'The Fight' as it was labeled by my best friend.

Of course, it'd been even tenser this past year, when it was just me and Jazz in the Master Estates.

"So, what are you taking here, Tucker?" Sam asked my best friend, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Danny already said you're not into art."

"Computers," Tucker answered. I saw a familiar gleam come to his eyes that always appeared when the conversation turned to technology. "I already know how to build them-"

"-Blindfolded and with one hand tied behind his back in under fifteen minutes-" I added, smirking slightly. _And with a rabid obsessive ghost and his half ghost best friend holding an all out war pretty much in his living room, _I added in my mind, but no way was I going to say that out loud.

"-So now I'm basically working on designing new software and improving some of the old stuff,"

"Tuck's top of his Computer class," I said, knowing that Tucker, as proud as he was, wasn't going to brag about that on his own, "And he's taking business classes, too. He wants to make his own company when he gets out of college."

"Pays better then the superhero gig," Tucker countered with a grin.

"What?" Sam said, his tone skeptical.

"Nothing!" I said loudly, glaring at my best friend. We hadn't even known the guy for a full day yet, and my secret was already hanging in his face. Tucker flinched guiltily, and I decided to talk to him later, and work on damage control right now.

The problem with that, though, was if I wanted to throw Sam off balance, I'd need something big. Something so bizarre, so out there, that everything else pales in comparison. Something like…

_Ooooh…_

"So anyways, do you wanna meet Mr. Marchez, Sam?"

"Who's Mr. Marchez?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. I smirked and Tucker shuddered slightly, a grave look passing over his face.

"You're gonna be sorry you asked." He promised. I laughed at that, already knowing how a meeting between my roomie and my favorite art teacher would turn out.

This should be interesting…

***

"Dan, m'boy!" Mr. Marchez said, grinning down at me playfully after his initial bear hug. "Here I was starting to think you forgot this old man, Dan!"

"Forget you?" I responded, laughing. "That's pretty much impossible for someone who's spent ten minutes with ya, teach!" I grinned widely at my wild, insane art teacher as he freed me from his choke hold, his own grin widening.

"Ah, but why be a forgettable person when we have potential to be remembered for all eternity?" My art teacher asked with a raised eyebrow, "When people will know you forever in some way, shape or form; that, my boy, is when you've truly accomplished something great!" I shook my head as Mr. Marchez made a hand gesture, grinning to myself at my teacher's antics.

Mr. Marchez had been like that as long as I'd known him, and it tended to scare a lot of people away. I didn't mind, though. Actually, it was kind of fun in how it was so bizarre, kind of like my dad, only much shrewder and a little more rough. Catching sight of my slack-jawed roommate, I remembered why I was visiting Mr. Marchez in the first place.

"Oh, and Mr. Marchez? This is my new roomie, Sam Manson. He's gonna be in some of your classes this year. Sam, this is Mr. Marchez, the Art director. He teaches all the art classes." Mr. Marchez turned to look at Sam as I finished the introduction, his smile falling away, making him look scary and dangerous to someone who didn't know him that well.

"Oh?" He said, frowning in his cunning, searching way. I bit back a smile when I saw how nervous it was making Sam. He seemed to study him a bit longer then normal before saying: "He _does_, does he? How old are you?"

"Fifteen." Sam answered. "Sixteen as of December 18th,"

"What's your favorite color?" I choked back a laugh at the sheer dumb confusion Sam broadcasted at that question.

"…Black, I guess…" At this Mr. Marchez snorted.

"Black ain't one color, kid, it's _every_ color. Dunno why loner kids dress in black nowadays. It's ironic if ya think about it. Black can't exist on its own, and can only be created if all the other colors, red, blue, yellow, green, yadda ya, all come together, all equal." I rolled my eyes after the art teacher finished his rant. That was Mr. Marchez for you, honest and insane… "Try again!"

"Well… I have always liked blue, too," Sam said, a little wary now. He was probably worried Mr. Marchez and I'd brought him here to kill him or something by now…

"You smoke?" I laughed silently to myself at the look on Sam's face at that question, enjoying how easy it was to read his emotions.

"No!" Sam said in agitation, clearly offended at the question. Mr. Marchez didn't care, though. He never cared who or what he offended when he vocalized his opinion, as his memorial meeting with Vlad showed all too clearly.

"Mind if I smoke?"

"Yeah," Sam frowned, glaring slightly.

"Which way d'ya mind?" Mr. Marchez pressed.

"What?"

"Do you want me to smoke or not?"

"I don't,"

"Good, I hate smoking. Bad for the lungs."

I tried my hardest to keep my laugher from being too obvious when Sam shot me a confused and somewhat wary look, but the situation was just too funny, considering how abrupt and random Mr. Marchez was.

"You like dragons?"

"What?"

"Dragons. Do you like 'em or not?"

"I guess…"

"What kind?" Sam frowned, obviously thinking hard about the question, probably trying to fig up all the info he knew about dragons.

"The ones in Europe, I guess," He said hesitantly. "The big green or red ones,"

"_Draco occidentalis magnus_," Mr. Marchez said airily. "One of the biggest dragons out there. Come in black and gold, too."

…_Something tells me I don't want to know how he knows that. _ I thought in dry amusement as Mr. Marchez grinned at Sam, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Welcome aboard, kiddo!"

"That was only nine questions, Mr. Marchez," I called out to him, adding all the questions up.

"Hmph! Head in the game, my boy!" The art teacher scoffed, "It was ten questions, Ten! Kiddo here never answered number one, whether or not he really wanted in,"

"I do," Sam said, sounding slightly dazed.

"Course you do," Mr. Marchez snorted, looking at him like there was something wrong with his head, "That much was obvious point blank, Kiddo," Sam shot me another helpless look but I just shrugged, not knowing what that one was about in the slightest.

"There any reason you played twenty one questions with me?" Sam asked, relaxing. He obviously knew he'd passed Mr. Marchez's initiation, a major feat for all kids who were interested in Casper's art department.

"Ten questions," Mr. Marchez corrected, looking insulted.

"Mr. Marchez claims he can figure out everything important about a student just by asking them ten questions," I explained, feeling that I owed it that I explained the whole thing to the poor kid after I'd dragged him down here like that. "Doesn't use the same questions all the time, either,"

"So far Dan's the only kid I haven't been able to completely figure out," Mr. Marchez boasted, ruffling my hair. He was the only person outside of my family I let do that. Sam looked a little skeptical about that, obviously not believing Mr. Marchez could do anything like that.

"What about me?" He asked in a challenging sort of way, confirming that thought.

"I've got you, alright," Mr. Marchez chuckled.

"Oh?" Sam sounded a little irritated now, and even more cynical.

"You're a proud kid, doesn't like to be wrong and usually aren't. You're responsible; take care of yourself and pretty much everyone else you get your hands on. You like things bizarre and love the eccentric, and you've got loads of motivation. You seem pretty passive, but you're really a fighter at heart especially when no one else is gonna stand up for a cause you believe in. Don't give a damn about rules if they stand in the way of doing what's right, or what you truly want. Still, good kid at heart, and bound to be one hell of an artist."

Sam gaped openly at that, reminding me of Jazz's friend Matt, when he received his first insult from a female courtesy of Mr. Marchez's equally blunt niece, Liz. I was practically crying with laugher, more from the irony then at Sam. Sam must've thought I was laughing at him, though, since he blushed slightly, giving Mr. Marchez a slight glare.

"What makes you so sure?" Mr. Marchez scoffed at the question.

"I may be over the hill, kid, but I ain't that old yet. Least not where it counts. I know people, and I especially know kids your age. Loads more people can do what I do, if they'd take their heads out of their own asses long enough to give a damn," Sam snorted in laugher, and I smiled slightly, glad that Mr. Marchez approved of my roommate for some reason. This one was pretty cool, so I wanted to keep him around a little longer. Still, one thing bugged me…

"Usually you list off more, Mr. Marchez," I said, giving the teacher a curious look.

"Don't wanna overstep any boundaries," Mr. Marchez shrugged. I blinked. Since when did Mr. Marchez care about something like that? "Well, gotta get ready for class tomorrow. You kids do, too, and don't tell me you already got everything, Dan, I know you too well."

"Actually, I do," I grinned, happy to catch Mr. Marchez wrong yet again. At his skeptical frown, I added: "My sister took care of it when I was busy," Mr. Marchez shook his head.

"One of these days, kid…" He said warningly. I laughed the warning away.

"We'll see," I grinned

"Gulliver's Travels, Mr. Fenton!" Sam and I jumped and turned to come face to face with Mr. Lancer's stern frown. My stomach dropped and I bit back a groan.

_Greeat…_

"This area is off limits, Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer said as he approached us, "I was hoping you would at least last the first week without stomping all over the rules." I bristled slightly, annoyed that the Headmaster was already bringing my record into things. What happened to fresh starts?

"Loosen up, Earl," Mr. Marchez said, "I invited him here. Sam, too." That declaration made the overweight educator turn his frown from me to my roommate.

"Ah yes, I've read your records, Mr. Manson," He said. "I hope you know that the fact that you are excused from your physical education credit will not give you any reason to slack in your academic classes."

…_Huh?_ Sam had a physical problem? He might've mentioned that before I dragged him halfway across campus…

"Yes, sir," The new kid responded, sounding annoyed. Bet he didn't want to talk about that physical problem, or whatever. I mentally cringed, deciding to get my new friend out of the trouble he'd undoubtedly get himself into if I didn't let him know exactly who he was talking to.

"C'mon, Sam, I'll show you where to get books," I said, yanking the kid away from the teachers. Sam started to say something, but a warning look from me shut him up.

"Kiddo!" Sam twisted around at Mr. Marchez's yell, and I stopped to wait for whatever last word my teacher had to get in. "You take care of him, alright? God knows someone needs ta give him a swift kick in the ass now and then,"

"Mr. Marchez!" Mr. Lancer said, agitated, "After fifteen years of teaching, I'd hope that you'd realize that is NOT the kind of language used at Casper!" Ignoring the Headmaster as usual, Mr. Marchez shot me a grin as Sam and I turned away to leave, and I grinned back just as broadly.

"What an asshole!" Sam said as soon as we got out of earshot. I had to laugh at the (accurate) first impression the bald man left on my roomie.

"That was Mr. Lancer, the Headmaster," I told him. "He really plays everything by the rules,"

"So I gathered," Sam said in a droll tone, giving me a pointed look. I flushed, knowing he was talking about the troublemaking comment back there.

"Ah, I've been late to class a few times," I explained sheepishly, "Among a few other things…"

"Other things?" Sam's eyebrow kicked up.

_Sneaking out, vandalism, destruction of school property, pulling a fire alarm, blowing up about half the science lab… _That was only what I could remember off the top of my head. All of those were things I'd gotten in trouble for, and all of them somehow connected with other ghosts or my powers in some way, shape or form.

"Well, one time I was caught in the counseling office right after someone had vandalized it, and Lancer thought it was me," I said, deciding that was safe territory..

"Did you?" Sam asked, eye brows still high as ever/

"No!" I protested. Then I laughed nervously, forcing back a flinch at Sam's weird look. "Hey, you know what? Maybe we should go see Spook!" Man was I getting desperate! No one else saw Spook, and I mean no one. He wasn't even completely comfortable having Tucker around too close for long periods of time.

"Who's Spook? Another one of Casper High's infamous ghosts?" I jumped slightly at that, unable to hide my surprise.

"So, you've already heard about the ghosts thing?" I asked in a hopefully casual voice.

"Yeah." Sam roll my eyes. "My cousin was going on and on about it. Talk about superstitious nonsense…" I almost laughed. Wow, when was the last time I agreed with that statement?

"Five bucks says you change your mind before the end of the day." I told him confidently. Sam smirked.

"So little confidence in my will?" he teased. "Even Matt gave me longer then that!"

"Yeah well he didn't know you'd be my roommate…" I said in a dry tone. A lot of ghosts had made a habit of attacking my room whenever they were just plain bored now a days, and my roommates often suffered from it.

"Excuse me?" Sam asked giving me a weird look. I cringed slightly.

"Nothing," I responded. Before we could say anything else, the sharp chill of my Ghost Sense hit me hard, telling me a ghost was coming up fast.

"Danny? Are you okay?" Sam asked in concern. I thought fast, trying to come up with a reason to get away from my roomie before it hit me that he just gave me one.

"Actually, no," I said, trying to make myself look sick. That was a good alibi. "I'll be right back," And with that, I dived into the bathroom, hesitating for a moment to make sure Sam wasn't gonna follow me.

After I realized he wasn't gonna follow, I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped away from the door. That's when I heard an all-too familiar roar.

"WANT BALL!"

I flinched and groaned slightly, knowing that even as weak as it was, the dragon ghost was dangerous towards humans, _especially_ ones that didn't even believe in ghosts. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the change with my battle cry.

"Goin' Ghost!"

I didn't flinch as the usual two beams of light flashed and completed my transformation from Fenton to Phantom. Once the light disappeared, I flew out through the door, not even bothering to open it.

Apparently the dragon ghost had managed to corner Sam in the time it took me to change. I cringed slightly when I saw the hole in the wall behind my cowering roomie. A gut feeling told me Sam'd been standing there when the ghost had found him. That thought filled me with a grim determination, and I shot forward, punching the undead mythological creature away from my newest friend.

"Don't think so, Cranky!" I called to her, not looking forward to the fight that was going to take place. "No Ghost is killing students on my watch, pal!" The Dragon growled and crouched as if to attack again, and I flew forward to knock her back through a wall, following as she went through.

_Looks like I'm back on the usual job already… _I thought grimly as I caught one last fleeting glance at Sam's gaping face before turning back to the ghost in front of me.

Who knew this superhero thing was so hard?

**Thanks to:**

**Narumi, imbar, maripinkkirby, wfea, HarrlyHermioneLove, Catadmin, Samantha Seldowitz, ameliato2004 and Evil Long Penname Having Individual End.**

**Thank you, and see you in chapter 3!!!!!!**


	3. No Rest

**Yesh! Read! NOW!!! *roars***

The ghost growled irritably before its head snaked forward, snapping at the place I'd just been. I flew off, going intangible as I led the angry beast away.

_Wonder what the problem was this time? _I thought dryly as I dodged the ghost's ecto-flames.

"Want BAAAAAAAALL!"

"Same ol', Same ol'…" I sighed. Catching sight of some stray students below us, I shot some ecto-goo at the dragon before she could do the same, gluing her mouth shut and stopping the potential danger of her fiery breath for a moment. It wouldn't last long, but it would buy enough time for the students to take cover.

Now if only they would stop gaping and get moving!

"Get out of here, now!" I yelled to them. "RUN!" That seemed to snap them out of their shock and sent them flying as if the hounds of hell were at their heels. Just in time, too. Dragon ghost had just managed to work her jaw free.

"_**RRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"**_ She bellowed, hitting me hard in the chest with a sweep of her claws while I was off-guard. My arms took most of the blow, though I was still sent flying backwards, cringing as the dragon's claws broke skin. I yelled in pain when I hit a wall, bits of plaster and brick falling away from the force of impact.

"Great," I grumbled. "Now I've made her even angrier! Can't I ever get a break?"

"How 'bout your leg?" I froze at the familiar voice.

_Aw, HELL!_ I cursed, diving away before the ecto-blast hit the wall I'd been in not five seconds later.

"Miss me, ghost boy?" The figure in red asked mockingly, brandishing her ecto-gun at me.

"I was counting the moments," I responded sarcastically. "Look, can we reschedule? I'm kinda busy right now…"

"Getting your butt kicked by me!" The ghost hunter finished, blasting at me again. I flew away at top speed, sighing against the wind.

_This is reeeeeeally getting old fast…_ I thought as I dug around my bag for my cell phone, making sure my new 'friend' was still a safe distance away. I placed a quick call, and shot a blast at the hunter's jet sled, making it lose control long enough for me to gain more ground.

"Hello?"

"Tucker!" I exclaimed, keeping my voice above the wind and below the now angry ghost hunter's hearing.

"Hey Danny, what's up? Did Sam like Mr. Psycho?"

"Not now!" I said back. "I've got a problem!"

"What kind of a problem?" my best friend asked.

"The kind that's five foot three, dressed in red and carries big guns and a grudge," I answered.

"Valerie's back?" Tucker asked, his tone brightening. "Tell her I said hi!"

"Tucker!" I hissed through gritted teeth.

"What?" the Tech-geek asked, oblivious as usual. "Oh! you're Phantom right now, aren't you?"

_Thank you Captain Obvious…_I thought, rolling my eyes.

"Look, can you get over here to handle this?" I asked. "The Dragon Ghost is loose and Sam almost found out how a fried chicken feels,"

"There's irony for ya!" I could almost see Tucker's grin at the thought of the vegetarian's near fate_. _"I'll be right down there, Danny. Oh, and Jazz called about half an hour ago. Apparently Klemper is loose in the girl's gym shower."

"Why didn't you tell me right away?" I asked, frowning.

"Jazz said she'd take care of it. She managed to smuggle a few weapons in too, apparently. Anyways, you might wanna check that out after dealing with the Ghost Dragon."

"Yeah, yeah," I sighed.

_A break is just TOO much to ask for…_ I thought dryly as I hung up the phone, staying on the Ghost Dragon's tail. Tucker would be able to find us on his own, he'd just have to follow the screams and path of ghost-induced destruction. _First thing's first…_

Turning again, I gave Valerie a blast that sent her careening out of control for good, crashing into some bushes and trees. I winced sympathetically and slowed to make sure she was alright before shooting off after the Ghost Dragon again.

Ghost hunter or not, Valerie was still my friend…whenever I was Fenton, at any rate. Besides, it _**was **_sort of my fault her life got destroyed…

With Valerie successfully stalled until Tucker showed up to take care of her completely, I picked up my speed to close in on the distance the Ghost Dragon had put between us while I was distracted. My eyes narrowed when I saw she was heading towards Spook's forest.

I smiled slightly when my feathered friend let out an angry cry, speeding upwards to startle the dragon enough for me to close in on the last few feet and knock the ghost into the sky.

"Thanks, Spook!" I called to him before flying after the ghost before she could recover. The falcon glided back to his tree and settled down, a sign that he was going to leave the rest to me.

I blasted at the dragon again, sending her crashing to the earth. Apparently, that last blast was all I needed, as the dragon shrank down to the small, slender female ghost who was fated to wear the Amulet of Aragon for all eternity.

"He promised he'd take me to the ball," She said in a depressed tone, "But he abandoned me for the Princess of England!" I blinked, unsure of what to say.

"Uh…" I started, trying to think of what Jazz would tell her in this situation, "Well, that's his loss, right?"

"I suppose," The princess sighed, standing up. "Forgive me. I'll return to the Ghost Zone now."

"Right," I said as she began to float off. "Good luck with the Ball thing!" The princess smiled before flying away in the direction of FentonWorks. I shook my head as I watched her go.

"If only they were all that easy," I muttered dryly. Then I sighed, remembering the whole Jazz/Klemper thing. Then there was Sam, who was bound to wonder where I'd disappeared to…

Getting an idea, I flew back through the forest and to Spook's tree, finding the bird waiting for me. He always seemed to know when I was coming, something that I found a little weird at first.

"Hey, Spook, I need your help," I said to him. "Go find Jazz. Help her with the ghost she's fighting and whatever you do, don't let him get into the city." Spook blinked at me, then let out a cry and flew off into the sky towards Wendy. Sighing in relief, I took to the sky, invisible.

On my way back to my Dorm, I saw Tucker and Valerie, who was now decked in her Wendy uniform rather then her ghost hunting costume. I grinned when I saw my best friend was leading his _'sort-of girlfriend'_ to the Cyber Café on Campus, knowing that the girl was about to receive redemption for trying to kill me.

Still laughing at the ghost hunter's fate, I phased into my room and turned visible again, phasing through my door and into the living room. Sam hadn't come back yet, and I figured Lancer was still drilling him on what had happened in the hall. Breathing a sigh of relief, I grabbed a pencil and paper and jotted down a quick message;

'_Sam-_

_Think I got sick after lunch today, so I went to the_

_Infirmary. Dunno how long I'll be there, but don't_

_worry if I come in late._

_-Danny'_

With that out of the way, I grabbed my art pieces from off the TV and put them in my portfolio, turning the TV off and hastily taping my note to the blank screen before I headed back to my room for some supplies that would be good for facing Klemper.

Hopefully, that note would be enough to fool my roommate, so I'd at least get a few days before he noticed how weird I acted compared to the non-halfa population of this world.

Sighing in irritation, I decided to just take an ecto-gun and a spare thermos and hope for the best. Satisfied that that would be all I need, I took off through the wall, turning myself invisible again to get to Wendy without any problems.

I found the girl's locker room to the white marble school pretty easily, since I'd flown into there about a billion and one times for various reasons, from needing to talk to Jazz to having a ghost to take care of to… erm… 'patrolling' for any loose ghosts I hadn't heard about yet… yeah… Ah, moving on!

Anyways, Jazz and Klemper were still in the locker room when I found them, along with Spook who had taken to lashing out at Klemper with his talons whenever the ghost was off-guard if the scratch marks that cut through the overly-affectionate ghost's pajamas meant anything.

I glared when I saw the ghost take a deep breath, apparently preparing to freeze my sister, who was drenched thanks to the apparently broken shower heads which were spraying wildly. Even I was getting soaked in the mist. A quick blast of ectoplasm stopped Klemper's attack dead, though, and sent the ghost flying.

"Danny!" Jazz called out, relief clear in her tone. "Thank God! He froze my ecto-gun and it got destroyed when Alicia kicked it into a wall!" I sighed irritably, taking out the ecto-gun I'd brought and tossing it to Jazz, never taking my eyes off Klemper as he began to recover.

"Didn't we talk about this whole _'Jazz the Ghost-slayer'_ thing before?" I reminded my sister pointedly as I hovered closer to make sure she was firmly behind me so I could shield her from Klemper until there was a break for her to leave. Jazz blushed.

"I thought I could take care of it," She said defensively.

"Well as much as I appreciate it-!" (pause to make a reflective shield as Klemper sent a blast of cold air at us,) "- You're only suppose to-!"

"Use the weapons to protect myself in emergencies when you absolutely can't reach me," Jazz finished. Under her breath, she added, "And you say I'M repetitive…"

"I heard that," I blasted Klemper again when he charged at me. Jazz blushed. "Look, we'll talk later, right now you should probably leave before someone gets suspicious."

"Right," Jazz said hastily, pocketing the ecto-gun I'd given her. She hesitated for a moment, and added a quick, "Good luck, Danny!" before dashing out the doors to head off anyone who might try to come in after me.

"Think you can keep an eye on her, Spook?" I asked my falcon friend. He cawed in response, flying out after my sister. I wasn't worried about people noticing him. Spook knew how to stay hidden better then half of the ghosts I'd met, even being the only speck of black in Wendy's otherwise eerily white marble halls.

Knowing that Jazz couldn't be left in better hands (or talons if you want to get literal,) I focused all my attention on Klemper as he charged again, dodging his wild blows easily and waiting patiently for my opening.

I got it soon enough, and took it eagerly, sending the ghost flying through wall after wall, intangible. I flew after him, keeping my eye on him at all times so he didn't try and disappear on me.

True, the ghost was probably too simple-minded to think of a strategy like that, but I knew better then to take chances when it came to ghosts. They had a nasty habit of surprising you when you thought you had the upper hand.

Klemper lost control of his power somewhere in the Blue Dormitory (the girl's Dorms were color coded instead of numbered like ours.) and hit a wall hard. I ignored the screams of the room's occupants as I flew in, stopping in the middle of the room to eye the ghost cautiously.

The same couldn't be said of Klemper though; who right after hearing the noise flew over to a brunette I'd never met before to grin at her crookedly.

"Will you be my friend?" He asked her, enveloping her in a hug. The girl paled at the contact and screamed louder. I shot forward to save her, grabbing one of her arms and turning her intangible.

After she was freed from Klemper's grasp, I turned back to the ghost, who seemed confused about where his new 'friend' went. Sighing I took out the Fenton thermos as sucked him up while he was trying to work this out, getting no fight from the ghost since he was so distracted.

Seconds later, I found myself sympathizing with the brunette even more as someone took advantage of my distraction to pull me into their own backbreaking hug. Yelping in surprise, I turned to see who was brave enough to cuddle the infamous terror known as _'Inviso-bill.'_ (Cringe)

"P-Paulina!"

"Oh, you saved me!" The popular cheerleader exclaimed, apparently forgetting that it was her roommate who was in danger, not her. "Thank you, Phantom!" I felt my face fill with color as the girl's embrace combined with her pink nightgown began to draw attention to… certain areas. (_Cough, cough!_)

_Time to go!_ I thought hastily, knowing that Paulina's crush on me (Well, ghost me anyways…) might make this meeting get a little out of hand. She certainly seemed to forget all about her still shaken roomie as soon as she caught sight of me…

"It was nothing," I said, patting her arms awkwardly. "Ah, I better get going now. I think someone's coming…"

"Oh!" Paulina looked disappointed. "Well, alright! But Phantom, do you think you could-!"

"What's going on in there?" A sharp voice demanded as a loud knock came to the girl's door. Both roommates jumped in surprise, and I took advantage of the opportunity to literally disappear before Paulina could finish what was probably a date invitation.

Deciding that visiting Jazz right now would be a little risky, I headed home, taking advantage of my invisibility again. Phasing through the walls of Dorm 13, I hovered outside my door as Folupa passed by on his rounds, waiting until he'd gone upstairs to turn human again and enter my room.

"Danny?" I heard Sam call as I opened the door. "That you?"

"Hey, Sam," I sighed, knowing what was coming before Sam did. Sure enough, his eyes widened when he saw me, and he paled when he saw the little souvenir the Ghost Dragon had given me, which was much more obvious and painful-looking now that I was human.

"What attacked you?" He asked still gaping.

_You wouldn't believe me if I told you, _I thought dryly.

"It's nothing," I said out loud, however. "I just fell down."

"Fell down _what_, Mt. Everest?" He asked with a glare. I pretended not to hear him, too tired to explain why I looked like I'd been chewed up and spit out by something out of a horror movie. Instead, I decided to turn the conversation to Sam.

"What about you? You get hurt when that ghost dragon attacked?" I asked. I was genuinely concerned about this too, hoping that my slight delay hadn't meant an injury for my roomie.

"No," Sam told me. "Freaked out, yeah, but I managed to get away before it could hurt me, thanks to that other ghost,"

"Good," I said, letting out a relieved sigh, I noticed that my scratches were starting to throb slightly, a good sign that it was time to tend to them. Making up my mind, I started towards my room, adding one last thing to Sam before I hid myself away for the night. "I'm going to bed. You should turn in, too, it's almost midnight," Sam glanced at the clock, looking alarmed when he saw what time it was. He must've been distracted by something until I came in and interrupted him.

_You don't know how good you've got it, pal… _I thought dryly.

"How did you get past the Dorm Monitor?" Sam asked suddenly. I cringed as he added, "We're not allowed out past ten!" Pretending I hadn't heard him, I shut my door behind me, sighing in relief when Sam didn't pound my door down demanding answers. I was a little unsettled at how fast he was catching on to all of the ghost stuff.

Someone up there must really like to see me squirm…

***

"How many of you have been in a life or death situation?" I bit back an amused smile as I raised my hand at Mr. Marchez's question. Part of my amusement came from the stunned, puzzled looks from most of the kids who were taking one of Mr. Marchez's classes for the first time, and the other came from the fact that I couldn't even could the number of life-or-death situations I'd been in.

_Well let's see, there was the dragon ghost, Klemper, Skulker, Vlad, Ember, Lunch Lady, Spectra, Bertrand, Valerie, Walker, Johnny 13, Fright Knight, Desiree, Technus, and Bullet just to name a few…_ I listed of dryly, _…And that's not even including the Ghost portal itself, or all the times Dad's experiments nearly killed me _before_ that..._ Really, it was almost becoming boring…

"How many of you have had something you've had to fight for something you truly care about and ended up getting hurt because of it?" My hand stayed up for that one, as it was once again a daily basis thing. I noticed Sam's was up too, and O had to wonder what that was about.

"Okay, last question. How many of you have ever loved someone and lost them?" All my amusement drained away as my parent's grinning faces flashed in front of my eyes, my hand never straying, even as Sam's went down. "Good, good…" Mr. Marchez grinned. "Your first project of the school year will deal with these moments in your life. The emotions felt in these moment, your anger, your fear, your desire, those are at their peak in times like these, and we never forget them. Therefore I want you all to design something that expresses these emotions."

"Isn't that a little personal?" Mikey asked, frowning disapprovingly.

"Damn straight," Mr. Marchez said unapologetically, but then again, that was just him. "But then, art is supposed to be personal, isn't it? All of you have some need, some passion that you express through your work, or else you wouldn't be here. And those of you who're just here for an exploratory credit should get the hell out and join up sewing, cause this ain't an easy ride," I hid a grin at that speech, which Mr. Marchez gave every year.

"Can't you be a little more specific?" A new kid asked, whining slightly.

"I'm not doing your thinking for you," Mr. Marchez snorted, "That's what is world is coming to now, no ideas of their own! It's all generic… hmph." I shot Sam a grin during Mr. Marchez's mutterings, which he returned, looking like he was having a blast.

It was nice to know one of us had energy this morning. I was exhausted thanks to a three AM wake up call courtesy of a couple of loose ecto-pusses who were terrorizing kids in their sleep. I even had to miss breakfast because of it, though Tucker did manage to snag me a piece of toast so I didn't starve. My best friend knew that I tended to skip meals when I was in the middle of a hunt, and took care of covering for me as usual.

"This a group project, Teach?" Nate called out. Like me, this was his second year taking the class. I didn't talk to him too often, but he seemed pretty okay whenever I did.

"Yep." Mr. Marchez said. "You'll all sit with your groups for the course of the project, and ten minutes at the end of every class is devoted for critique. That's another thing, all you pansies who spout off about how sensitive artists are better get the Hell out, too. Having ideas isn't enough, you gotta learn to see from other people's points of view, too. Besides, life ain't all roses and sunshine and you gotta grow up sooner or later. Danny's the crown jewel here, since he's the only advanced student who had his hand up for all three categories, so the group that gets him lucks out. Any more questions?"

"When do we start?" Sam asked.

"Today, of course. Waste no time!"

"What sort of mediums can we use?" Another newbie asked while everyone else stood up.

"Whatever you're most comfortable with for now." Mr. Marchez said. "I wanna see your best, so I know what to teach you, what your good with and what you should just forget entirely."

That sounded easy enough, I decided as I headed for the marker bin. Considering my options, I decided to go with the lost love thing. I was used to risking my life. I was used to fighting for both myself and others who couldn't defend themselves to the point where I was getting frustrated with it. But losing my parents was still a new wound to me…

Suddenly there was a tap on my shoulder, bringing me out of my thoughts with a sharp yelp. Acting as only someone who's fought for his life could, I wheeled around and struck out at whoever surprised me before I saw who it was. Sam just barely managed to get out of the way before I sent him to the infirmary with potential brain damage.

"Jumpy much?" He asked, looking more than a little shaken. I cringed guiltily at my instinctive reaction.

"Never sneak up on Danny before noon, newbie," Nate laughed. "Last kid who tried got himself a concussion," I felt my cheeks heat up as I was reminded of the completely accidental incident he was talking about.

"Sorry," I said, shifting from one foot to the other. "Didn't get much sleep last night."

"Noticed that," Sam said in a droll tone. Then, frowning in concern he added, "You okay?"

"Fine," I said, rolling up a sleeve to show him my freshly healed arm. "I'm a fast healer,"

Sam's eyes went wide when he saw that the injury was gone, another plus of being a halfa. So long as I tended my wounds religiously, most of the less serious ones would be healed overnight, and the ones that would have other people bed ridden for months were gone in a week.

"Wow," an awestruck Sam said. "That's… wow. I didn't know it was possible for people to heal that fast, Superman," I winced at that, uncomfortable with the comparison.

"Y-Yeah well, it runs in the family." I blurted out, grabbing my things and heading back to my seat before Sam could ask anything else.

_Coward, _A part of me scoffed in disgust as I sat down.

I sighed to myself as I started to work, trying to get my mind off of all of this. Honestly, though, I couldn't stop thinking about Sam. There was something about him that was really off. It wasn't just that he noticed things faster, either.

Everything about him was weird to me, even though I couldn't put my finger on it. The way he moved and talked, his eyes, his persistence at being included in things… I'd never seen a guy act like him before. It was so…different. There was something so…_off _about him, even though I don't know what.

Still, it wasn't like he was someone I didn't like. Actually, I liked him a lot. I felt bad that I couldn't include him in the whole ghost thing, but really that was for his own good. If ghost found out he knew about my secret, he would become a prime target, just like Jazz and Tucker.

Besides, I'd never actually told anyone my secret. Tucker was there when it happened, and Jazz and Vlad both found out on their own. My own parents didn't even know I was half ghost, how could I even think of telling a complete stranger, no matter how great a guy he seemed?

Looking up from my work I saw Nate chatting away happily to Sam, and bit back an amused chuckle. It was good to know the guy was fitting in. And if he made friends with people other then me and Tucker, there was a chance he could get away from all this ghost stuff while he still had a chance.

Still, I couldn't help but feel a little lonely as I watched Sam and Nate talking to one another…

"You okay, kid?"

I blinked in surprise at the softly spoken question, turning to look at Mr. Marchez, who was frowning at me with an uncharacteristic amount of concern in his eyes.

"Fine, Mr. Marchez," I answered quickly. "I was just thinking a bit…" the art teacher snorted.

"And that's why you looked so depressed," He said sarcastically. I blushed slightly, knowing that he had a point, "Come on, kid, you can trust me. What's on your mind?"

"It's nothing," I insisted. Mr. Marchez's frown deepened.

"Masters ain't givin' you a hard time again, is he?" he asked, making me flinch. I really hated talking about Vlad with anybody, especially when he wasn't around.

At school, I liked pretending my guardian didn't exist, that I wouldn't have to go back to that cold castle come Thanksgiving, staying under his watchful eye for an entire week with only my older sister for company.

A sister who, by the way, was just as trapped as I was, and probably in a lot more danger. After all, Vlad had nothing he wanted of Jazz, so he wouldn't be afraid to eliminate her if he decided to.

"No," I answered. "…Well, yeah, but that wasn't what I was thinking about."

"Well, can you at least tell me about the stuff with Vlad?" Mr. Marchez asked.

"He made me the legal heir to all of Master Corps," I told him under my breath. Mr. Marchez jerked back in surprise, but was smart enough not to say anything out loud. "And he's getting some lawyers on trying to make me and Jazz his adoptive children."

"He's trapping you," Mr. Marchez translated, making a face. "You and your sister."

"If it was just me, I'd try and fight him or something," I sighed, actually starting to feel a bit depressed, like a weight was slowly being lowered into my shoulders and heart. "But Jazz…"

"Relax, Dan," Mr. Marchez said. "I understand. And don't ever lower yourself to explaining your actions. If you're around someone you can really trust, you don't need to explain yourself." I smiled a little at that. Good ol' Mr. Marchez….

"Anyways, I really don't know what I'm gonna do about him, short of running away and changing my name. Even that probably won't work for too long, considering how many connections Vlad has…"

"You ain't the running type anyways, kid," Mr. Marchez pointed out. "Just think it through a little. You're a smart kid, Dan, you'll find a way to get out of Vlad's trap. You always do,"

_Only because I have other people there to help me, _I told myself sullenly as Mr. Marchez left. It was true, too. The only way I could ever get some leverage over Vlad was if there was someone else there giving me a hand. He was just too strong for me, with twenty years of experience to my two.

I glanced at Mr. Marchez as he began helping a new kid, smiling a little to myself. The man had become a mentor for me over the past few years, but I hadn't truly learned respect for him until he met Vlad for the first time…

"_Who're you?" Mr. Marchez asked gruffly as Vlad stood at the door of the art room, his nose wrinkled in distaste as he looked around over Mr. Marchez's shoulder. I froze up over the piece I had stayed over late to work on, my face paling at the sight of my guardian._

"_Masters," Vlad answered. "Vladimir Masters, Owner and CEO of Master Corps. And you are…?"_

"_Marchez," Mr. Marchez responded, "And this ain't a place for CEOs, pal. Especially not ones who can't tell their heads from their-!"_

"_I assure you, Mr. Marchez, I have no desire to stay," Vlad cut him off coolly, with a frozen smile. "I merely wished to collect young Daniel for a moment." Marchez frowned. I cringed, knowing that there was nothing Mr. Marchez could do to get me out of having to speak with Vlad…_

"_You don't 'collect,' a kid, Masters," Mr. Marchez said. "Stamps, coins, figures, yeah, but not kids," Vlad began to look annoyed, "Besides, Dan's busy right now, so I don't think he wants to talk to ya," Vlad's eyes narrowed._

"_I beg your pardon," He said, anger working his way into his tone. "But you are in no position to tell me if I can't see a boy I work to feed, shelter and clothe."_

"_Actually," Mr. Marchez said, giving Vlad a smile similar to the one the halfa had given him. "I am," And, before Vlad could say anything else, Mr. Marchez slammed the door right in his face._

"_Oh, Phantom's my hero!"_ I blinked out of my memories at Nate's high pitched squeal, fighting not to blush when I realized _who_ he was mimicking._ "He saved me from all the big bad ghosts! He's so cool and brave! We must be destined for one another!"_

"Ease up, Nate. I can tell you right now Phantom ain't interested." I said in perfect honesty, earning laugher from most of the class and a paper wad from Nate which I caught easily. I grinned before turning back to the assignment, though it faded slightly when I noticed Mr. Marchez giving me a curious look…

***

"Okay, should I go with the blue shirt or the red one?" Tucker asked me and Sam. We both groaned in response.

"You're asking her to a dance, Tuck, not proposing," I reminded Tucker. At least, he better not be without giving me proper warning first…

"Yeah," Sam piped up. "And if she really likes you, would she even care what color your shirt is?"

"Come on, guys!" Tucker said in exasperation. "I really want to impress Valerie!"

"And what makes you think we know any more about what kind of outfit a girl would like to see you in then you do?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, then abruptly started shaking his head as if to dispel unwanted thoughts.

"Sam?" I asked, worried for my roommate. "You okay?"

"Fine," Sam answered, not quite meeting my eye.

"Hey, who're you two gonna take to the dance, anyways?" Tucker asked. I felt my stomach drop at the question. "I mean, are you gonna make another try at Paulina or not, Danny? Cause if you are, you might wanna get moving…"

"Yeah, of course," I said. Then, a little more dryly, I added, "Who else could I ask? Not that there's like any chance of her agreeing to go out with me, but who knows, I might get lucky…"

"What about you, Sam?" Tucker turned to the surprisingly sullen vegetarian.

_What's his problem?_

"Not going," Sam answered gruffly.

"Why not?" Danny asked, his eyebrow raised.

"I don't like things like that. Besides, I'm too new here, no one would want to go out with me."

"Come on, Sam, even Danny goes, and he never gets a date!" Tucker said, oblivious to my glare.

"Yeah, thanks Tuck," I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm, "thanks a lot,"

"Besides, I don't even know anything about this dance," Sam said, a bit nervously. I mentally sighed. Now he was just reaching for excuses…

"It's just a sort of welcoming back party they hold at Wendy's before we throw Homecoming here." I explained, "They have a different theme every year."

"What's this year's theme, anyways?" Tucker asked me.

"Masquerade Ball," I said, mimicking my sister's tone when she told me over the phone last night before rolling my eyes. "Jazz's idea."

"That doesn't sound as bad as they could've made it," Sam pointed out.

"True enough," Tucker agreed, "Last years was _'Fairytales come true,'_"

"Pure irony…" I said with a dry grin.

"Why?" Sam asked, his interest perked.

"First attack on Wendy, and by the dragon ghost that tried to take you out," Tucker explained.

"Wow, that _is_ ironic…" Sam laughed. "Think this ghost had a fix for parties?"

"Yes," Danny and Tucker answered as one.

"More then you'll ever know…" I added dryly. Sam laughed.

"Anyways, I'll ask Valerie at the big game on Friday," Tucker said. "And while I do that, Danny can introduce you to the Wendy girls that might be interested in going out with you."

"I already told you-!" Sam protested, but Tucker had already taken off to rummage through the rest of his clothes. I mentally sighed and shook my head.

"Maybe Tucker has a point," I said cautiously, "I mean, you would've want to stay in the dorm by yourself while everyone else is partying, right?"

"I'm not going," Sam said stubbornly. I sighed out loud this time and stood, taking all my trash to the garbage bin

_Some people just don't know how to have fun while they can…_ I thought to myself absently as I left.

**Thank yous':**

**mystery writer5775, Drende Sakash, RockAndRollBaby91, Vikka13 and bloodmoon13!**

**TIL CHAPTER 4~!!!!!!**


	4. Forest Song

**Hi all! I know I haven't really been altering the story much, which is a good/bad thing I suppose. I wouldn't dream of changing this story TOO much! But I do have some sense/conversations I really want to add in…but the thing is, I'm having a hard time working those things in. Anyway, until I manage to do so, my 'brilliant' ideas are on hold.**

"What are you doing?" I knew shouldn't have asked. I knew it, but I couldn't help myself. It wasn't every day I found my best friend crouching behind a garbage bin with what looked like the rope we used for climbing in gym class.

"Shhh!" Tucker hissed as a responded, peeking around the bin as if waiting for someone.

"You're starting to scare me, Tuck," I said, backing up warily. I was being serious, too. Tucker was the only living person who ever weirded me out more then the ghosts I hunted, and I'm including Mr. Marchez in that generalization.

"The next bus for Raven stadium comes soon, right?" Tucker asked, still in a hiss-like whisper.

"Yeah," I answered, puzzled as to what this had to do with anything. "In about seven minutes. Why?"

"Perfect…" Tucker said, grinning widely.

"Tuckerrr…" I said, backing away some more and preparing to run at a moment's notice. No good could come of that look in my friend's eyes…

"Shh!" Tucker repeated as he crouched further behind the garbage bin, "Here he comes!"

"Here who-?" I stopped, suddenly realizing what was going on, then shouted, "TUCKER!"

My yell came too late, as my best friend had already tackled the smaller boy to the ground with a shout of triumph. I sighed, exasperated.

"Ah-ha! You're not getting away THIS time!" Tucker declared.

"You maniac! Get off of me!"

"Sorry, pal, but as your friend, I can't do that in good conscious…" I groaned and hid my face in my hand as Sam and Tucker continued to fight, drawing the attention of everyone who passed by.

You really had to wonder where everything went so wrong…

***

"Trust me, dude, this is for your own good," Tucker reassured Sam yet again. "Once you see all the hot Wendy chicks, you'll be glad you came!"

"I am gonna kill you once you untie me, Tucker," Sam growled back.

"I had nothing to do with this," I insisted yet again, shaking my head as the bus rolled on towards Raven Stadium.

This whole week had been pretty weird, even for me. The ghost attacks, the load of homework, the nagging from Lancer, that was all normal, but that was about all. The more I hung out with Sam, the more I though something was up. And Mr. Marchez was acting kinda weird, too, especially when both of us were there.

Neither of them said anything about my secret, though, and I have no doubt that both or they would have confronted me right away if they knew, so that was probably still safe. But I still really wished I knew what was going on…

"Ah! Here we are!" Tucker said as the bus stopped. "Casper High Stadium!" grinned when I saw Sam gape at the building as we got off the bus.

"Big enough?" He asked.

"Dash's dad is a football player," I explained to him absently. "And Mr. Lancer's big on jocks." Not to mention the contribution Vlad had made towards it… That was one of the reasons I hated stepping foot in there.

"Makes sense…" Sam said dryly. He'd had enough run-ins with Lancer to know, too…

"There's Valerie!" Tucker said enthusiastically through a huge grin. "Hey, Val!" I smiled widely at the ghost hunter as she came up to us, trying not to laugh at the sheer irony of my life.

Valerie's dad used to be a big-shot security manager for Axion, but a bad run in with a ghost dog looking for his squeaky left him out of a job. It was a total accident, but Valerie still blamed my ghost half and the ghost dog for ruining her life.

I don't know where the ghost dog ran off to, but I hoped he stayed there if he knew what was good for him, because I could say from experience that if Valerie go a hold of him…

"Tucker!" Valerie called a smile on her face. She and my best friend had started dating last year, and were still very cautious about their relationship. Still, because of all the time I had to spend around her, I'd learned that Valerie wasn't a bad person….

When I was human, anyways…

"Hey, Danny." She stopped when she saw Sam. "New… ah… friend?" It was obvious why she was asking, just looking at the poor guy…

"Hey Val," I responded. "And yeah. This is Sam, my roomie. Sam, this is Valerie Grey."

"Pleasure," Valerie said, coughing back a laugh. "Ah, do I wanna know-?"

"No," Sam said, sounding faintly annoyed. "And it's nice to meet you too, Valerie,"

"Ah, Val? Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?" Tucker asked, playing with his beret with was now in his hands.

"Sure, Tuck," Valerie shot me a smirk that said she already knew what he wanted to talk about. "See ya round, guys," I shook my head as the 'couple' left.

"She seemed nice enough," Sam said casually as he fought with Tucker's knot work.

"Yeah, but she wasn't always that way," I sighed, thinking back to the days of Valerie the Super Snob. "Before, she wouldn't give Tuck the time of day. After her father's accidents, though, she became a scholarship kid and changed her ways."

"Ah, a case of seeing the light?" Sam nodded in understanding.

"More like a case of the light giving her a swift kick in the behind," I sighed again. "But yeah." I freed him from the ropes, and looked up to the stadium as he worked the kinks out of his arms. "Well, as long as we're here, do you wanna check things out?" Sam made a face.

"Do we have to?" I laughed at Sam's whine.

"Come on, the bus back to school won't come back for another half an hour anyways." I said, leading him inside.

Inside the football team and the cheerleaders had both already started warming up. Paulina was in the spotlight as usual, with pretty much every guy in the stadium admiring her perfect legs as, in her cheerleading uniform twirled and twisted, drawing attention to them.

Sam wasn't looking at Paulina, though. Instead, his attention was on Dash as he warmed up, a puzzled frown of someone trying to remember something on his face.

"That's Dash Baxter, the Quarterback of the football team." I filled in for him. "Watch out for him, you don't wanna get on his bad side."

"Danny?" Sam and I both turned, and I relaxed slightly when I saw Lizella Cartel, Jazz's best friend since middle school.

"Oh, Hey Liz," I said as she came to a stop in front of us. "Didn't see you there. What are you doing here anyways? Don't you find organized sports an 'ineffective use to time and energy and yet another excuse for empty-headed muscle to be supported in the eyes of the general public who still can't see how barbaric it is?'" My sister's friend rolled her eyes.

"Haha." She said teasingly, "I'm here with your sister." I groaned at that, my stomach dropping "Yep, your in for it big time, little man,"

"Don't call me that," I mumbled half-heartedly, trying to wrack my brain for a way to get out of the coming scolding. Liz laughed for a moment before Sam caught her attention.

"Hello, here's a new face," She said. Then she looked confused for a moment, "Least I think I haven't seen you before… have I? You look familiar…"

"No," Sam answered quickly, looking a little scared. "T-That is, I don't think we've met before…" Liz shrugged.

"Well, we're meeting now." She said smiling, "I'm Lizella Cartel, Liz for short. And you are…?"

"Sam," He answered. "Sam Manson," Liz looked startled at the last name.

"Any relation to Matt Manson?" Liz asked, excited at the mention of Matt. I rolled my eyes.

_And she claims not to like him…_ I thought dryly, frowning curiously at Sam as he hesitated before answering, still looking a little scared.

"Uh…"

"I knew you looked familiar!" Liz exclaimed, triumphant, "Brother? No, he told me all he had was a little sister, lemme think… cousins, then?"

"Yes!" Sam responded, sounding a bit relieved. "Yeah, um we're cousins. I live In New York and don't see Matt too often,"

"Lucky," Liz teased lightly. "Your cousin's a real jerk sometimes, you know?"

"Oh?" Sam looked a bit started at that, and very pleased.

"Mmhm," Liz sighed. "A jerk who doesn't understand girls at all,"

"Come on, Liz, it's not nice to gossip about people behind their backs, no matter how mad at them you are." Jazz said as she came up behind us. Cringing, I turned to meet the firing squad. Jazz looked genuinely surprised to see me there, knowing all too well how much I hated football. "Danny?" She said, then her eyes moved to my roommate, and she stopped dead, paling slightly. "SAM?"

"You know him?" Sam asked, looking confused.

"You know her?" I asked my roommate, quite confused myself. "How do you know my sister?" Sam's eyes widened at the question.

"SISTER?" Sam yelled, looking between the two of us somewhat frantically. "You two look nothing alike!"

"Fortunately," Jazz and I said in union, making faces at one another. Liz giggled, but Sam still looked very confused.

"Danny takes after dad, and I take after mom," Jazz told Sam vaguely. Like me, she didn't like talking about our parents to strangers. "How'd you two meet?"

"Roomies," I answered. Instead of being happy that I was making new friends, Jazz froze up, giving Sam a tense look.

"…Really," She said, her voice seeming to come out a bit strangled.

"Yeah. How do you know him?" I asked, getting a little suspicious. Jazz didn't act like this without reason…

"Matt introduced us," Jazz answered after a moments' pause. "Danny? Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?"

"Will I get a choice?" I asked, already knowing the answer. Sure enough, Jazz grabbed my arm and dragged me off where my roommate and her best friend wouldn't be able to hear us.

"Does Sam know anything?" Jazz asked in a tense voice. "Sam doesn't know anything, right?"

"Relax, Jazz," I said, almost finding the situation funny. (Key word being _almost_…) "And no, as far as I know, Sam doesn't have a clue,"

"You're sure?" Jazz pressed.

"Positive. He would've said something by now if he knew, trust me. He knows I'm not like normal people, but everyone in Casper already knew that." I smiled wryly at this. "Relax, Jazz. Something like me isn't even supposed to be possible, remember? He won't figure it out. Especially since he's got his own secret to worry about…"

"Secret?" Jazz said, her voice going up an octave. "What makes you think that he's got a sceret?"

"Well, I don't have anything solid, but something about him is definitely off…" I sighed, frowning at my sister. I could tell from that reaction alone that she knew something, but decided not to press it. "But it's none of my business, anyways, and I'm keeping my own secret, so it's not like I can preach to him and not become a total hypocrite."

"Guess you're right," Jazz said with a gentle smile, seeming to have calmed down. "How's the ghost stuff going?"

"Okay," I answered. "They've been pretty busy lately, but it should calm down after a while."

"Have you been taking care of your injuries?"

"Yeah, Jazz," I sighed.

"And you still have enough of everything if you get hurt soon, right?"

"Yeah," I said, rolling my eyes. "Relax, Jazz, I'm still alive, see?" My sister frowned, then sighed.

"Sorry, Danny," She said, surprising me, "It's just… since mom and dad… if I lose you, too…" My exasperation gave way to guilt at that.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere, alright?" I told her gently. "I've lived this long, I'm not gonna let something get me now." Jazz smiled at me at that. As an after thought, I added, "And I'll go down to the pharmacy the moment I start to run low."

"Guess you're right." She agreed. Then she hesitated before add, "Erm, Danny… about Sam…"

"What about him?" I asked, curious.

"Don't you think maybe you've be happier with a different roommate?" Jazz asked in a careful tone.

"No," I said, shrugging. "Sam's cool. Even Mr. Marchez likes him,"

"Yeah but…" Jazz looked pained for a moment before she sighed, and said, "Never mind. Come on, we'd better get back to stop Liz from traumatizing poor Sam…"

"Or vise versa," I grinned. I'd seen the look in his eyes when his cousin's name was brought up…

Jazz laughed as we started back to our friends. Liz turned when she saw us coming, a familiar gleam entering her eyes. My felt my stomach begin to drop.

_Please, Please no…_

"Hey, Dan, There's something I wanted to talk to you about," She started casually. "You remember my friend Tammy, right?" I groaned at the direction of the conversation.

"No, Liz," I told her bluntly.

"You haven't even heard what I was gonna say!" Liz said, insulted.

"Let me guess," I said in a dry tone, then continued, "_'Well, she's got the cutest little sister around your age! Just the kind of girl for you, Danny, smart, cheerful, great sense of humor…'_"

"Oh, come on, Danny!" Liz huffed, "You need more of a social life, kid! Sulking in your dorm isn't gonna get Paulina to like you, and there are better girls out there! You just need to get up and meet them!"

"I don't have time to meet girls, Liz," I sighed in exasperation.

"I dunno, Danny," Jazz butted in with a frowned, "Liz has a point…"

"Not you too, Jazz," I said, resisting the urge to throw my arms up. Usually Jazz was with me on this one, it was all of her friends that were devoting their lives to finding me a girlfriend, with Liz at the lead of the investigations.

"Oh, come on, Danny, you do enough! You deserve a little happiness once in a while, just like everyone else," Jazz scolded.

"And drag a complete stranger into my problems?" I countered. "No one deserves that kind of life!"

"Well, find someone who likes you enough not to care," Jazz said reasonably. "Even if your life's a little different, that doesn't make much of a difference, Danny! Do you think I care about it? And what about Tucker? Who's to say you can't find a girl who'd say the same?"

"You're my sister," I reminded her. "You're obligated not to care by birth. And I've known Tucker forever. Besides, he still feels guilty for the accident. Face it, Jazz, I'm hopeless." Liz and Sam stared, obviously in the dark about what we were talking about.

Jazz was about to say something else when she noticed them, too. Laughing nervously, she decided it was time to leave before she said something to get me into trouble.

"H-hey! Isn't that Fred over there? Come on, Liz, we need to ask him about the dance!" And with that, my sister was gone, Liz behind her.

"I didn't know Jazz was your sister," Sam told me conversationally as he jumped up to sit on the guardrail.

"I didn't know you knew Jazz," I told Sam. "Anyways, it's not that big a deal. I only really get to see her on weekends or at big events during the school year. Then we _'reconnect with each other'_ over breaks," I rolled my eyes at my sister's wording, earning a laugh from Sam.

"You two seem really close, though," Sam said. There was something in his voice that I couldn't quite place my finger on. "And she obviously cares about you,"

"Yeah, that's a big sister thing, I guess," I said, remembering what she had just said, I added, "Especially after mom and dad left,"

Sam frowned, and looked like he wanted to say something when he lost his balance and fell over the other side of the guardrail. My eyes widened as I raced forward to try and catch him, only to miss by a few centimeters.

_WHAM!_

"Ow," Sam moaned as he landed. I felt myself go white as I realized what havoc my roommate had just wracked upon himself.

_Please, please no…_ I thought, moaning in the otherwise deathly quiet stadium. But no matter how much I wanted to change it, the fact was that it was Dash Baxter who was now standing up and glaring murder at my roomie.

"You're dead," He growled, grabbing the front of Sam's shirt and drawing back to punch him. I instinctively prepared to jump down into the stadium to defend Sam, but before I did one thought ran through my head.

_This won't end well…_

***

"Five students with black eyes, one with a sprained ankle, six with severe bruising and several finger and wrist injuries…" Mr. Lancer sighed after he'd finished listen off the injuries. "Tell me, Mr. Fenton, do you enjoy making both our lives harder?"

"They didn't have to try and gang up on me like that," I reminded the Headmaster, crossing my arms. I felt a little guilty, though, seeing as I had the unfair advantage of paranormal powers and superhuman strength.

"And you didn't have to get into the fight," Mr. Lancer frowned, eyes narrowing. "Several eyewitnesses acclaimed that you weren't involved to begin with. That you jumped in after the first punch was thrown."

"By Dash Baxter," I finished for him. "Why isn't he in here?"

"Mr. Baxter is in the infirmary with a sprained ankle, black eye, severe bruising and a badly damaged wrist." Mr. Lancer said, his eyes narrowing further. "All of which he claims you caused."

"Come on, Mr. Lancer, I'm three times as small as him," I reminded my teacher. "How did I do that much damage in such a short amount of time with seven other people ganging up on me?"

"The same way you get out being the least injured in two on eight odds, I suppose," Mr. Lancer responded, though I could see some doubt in his eyes. "Well, I suppose that in the chaos, some of the football players were hitting one another…" I sighed, relieved that the excuse had worked. "However, there's still the matter of your and Mr. Manson's punishment."

"Sam didn't throw a single punch," I said at once, coming to the smaller boy's defense. "The whole thing was an accident; he never meant to fall on Dash,"

"Still, he must take responsibility for staring a fight that ended in the injury of almost the entire football team."

"I'm the one who cause those injuries, though, Mr. Lancer!" I objected. "Look, punish me, but leave Sam out of this."

"I can't do that, Mr. Fenton." Mr. Lancer frowned again. "Punishments must be enforced to fit the crime."

"But Sam didn't do anything!" I sighed in frustration. Mr. Lancer frowned curiously at me.

"Haven't you defended your friends enough for one evening, Mr. Fenton?" I smiled weakly at the comment.

"Hey, I might as well try and keep the ones that put up with me, right?" I joked dryly.

"True enough," Mr. Lancer sighed, "As for your punishment… I believe the best thing for you to do is accept two months worth of detention, and you will spend the next week helping Mr. Folupa clean the science lab every night."

"Fine by me," I sighed, standing along with Mr. Lancer and walking over to the door.

"That is all, Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer said, opening his door, "Mrs. Gretchen will escort you back to your dorm, which you're not allowed to leave for the rest of the weekend. Mr. Foley, please return to your room. Mr. Manson, come in."

"Good luck, kid," I murmured to Sam as I passed, giving him a shaky smile.

"Thanks," He whispered back, returning the gesture. Then Tucker and I walked out of the hall with Mrs. Gretchen, Mr. Lancer's 60+ year old secretary. We were almost to the door when Mr. Marchez came up.

"Flora!" He called out. "I need a hand here. I can't find any of the grade sheets for my senior kids, and they're all in a panic." Mrs. Gretchen frowned at him.

"Honestly, Mr. Marchez!" She sighed. "I just gave you those yesterday! How can anyone be that disorganized?"

"What? You want me to write a book about it or something?" Mrs. Gretchen's frown became more pronounced.

"Well I'm sorry, Mr. Marchez, but Mr. Lancer wanted me to escort Daniel back to his dormitory…"

"Dan's a big boy," Mr. Marchez snorted. "Look, just help me look for them for an hour, then call to check in on him to see he made it back alive. That way neither of us gets into trouble."

"Well…" Mrs. Gretchen hesitated, then sighed, "…Alright. But only because you're already on thin ice with Mr. Lancer!"

"Atta girl!" Mr. Marchez grinned, "You're a lifesaver, Flora." Mrs. Gretchen smiled at Mr. Marchez, her heels clicking on the floor as she walked towards Mr. Marchez's room. Mr. Marchez followed at a slower pace since he was walking backwards to keep his eyes on me and Tucker. Before he turned, he gave us a quick wave.

In his hand was the file he claimed was missing, hidden from Mrs. Gretchen's view, thanks to some other papers.

"He's still the weirdest teacher I've ever met," Tucker said as he watched them go, shaking his head. Apparently, he saw the file, too.

"Yeah, but he's a good weird." I said happily. "Besides, I'm around weird so much now a days, normal would probably creep me out or drive me insane."

"I'm normal," Tucker insisted. I stared at him. "What?"

Sighing I decided to let my friend live in his happy little delusions.

"Well anyways, Mr. Marchez bought me another hour before I've gotta be back in my dorm," I told him before continuing, "I think I'm gonna visit Spook. I haven't really gotten a chance to just hang out with him since I got here."

"Right," Tucker hesitated for a moment before deciding to say what was on his mind. "I think I nearly goofed." I blinked at my friend in confusion, not understanding him.

"What?" I asked.

"When I was talking to Sam a few minutes ago, I let something slip about your powers. He got suspicious and I covered it up by telling him the barest facts about the whole Master Corps. thing. I didn't tell him about Vlad or even mention Master Corps. by name, but he knows you're the heir of a big time company." Tucker said this all really fast, and it took me a second to figure out what he'd said.

"WHAT?" I yelled, my eyes going wide.

"Sorry," Tucker cringed, shifting nervously and not looking in my eyes.

"Tucker!" I growled, "I can't believe you nearly let two of my secrets slip at once!" Tucker shrank away slightly, obviously consumed by guilt.

"I know, I know!" He said. "And I'm sorry! I swear I'll be more careful from now on." I sighed at that in frustration.

"Yeah," I said, knowing that Tucker was trying hard to keep my secret just that. It was just that he was always so used to blurting stuff out, that the whole 'You-can't-tell-anybody,' thing was new to him. "Well, I'm gonna see Spook."

"Hey, Danny?" I turned, and Tucker approached me again, taking my sketchbook and pencils from his backpack. "Here. You left these at my house the last time you where there, and I figured you might want them back." I felt my anger cool a bit more as I took the things.

"Thanks," I murmured, heading away again.

It didn't take me long to fly to the clearing, and Spook came out to greet me eagerly when I got there, resting on my shoulder and brushing his ink-black feathers against my face.

"Hey, Spook," I said affectionately, petting his head at I sat on a branch of the tree. "Well, I managed to get myself into even more trouble with Lancer today," Spook cocked his head as if to ask a question, "I fought off the football team today when they tried to beat up my newest friend. I used my powers to do it, too," I sighed. "I shouldn't have, it was stupid, dangerous, and could've exposed me… but what else could I do? Sam needed me, and I can't call myself a hero if I just sit there when someone's in trouble…" I petted Spook on the head, a light smile touching my lips as other, smaller animals began to come into the clearing, getting as close as they dared without upsetting Spook, who considered me 'his.' I kinda liked that, that in a way, that I was, in a sense, Spook's.

Animals were much more in tune with the spirit world then humans, especially dogs and birds. They could tell just from being close to a ghost if he or she was good or bad, and they relished in the aura set off by the few good ghosts out there. Some animals have even proven to have gained more intellect by staying close to a good ghost, if the research of my parent's colleagues was right. Jazz insisted it was, using Spook as an example, but Tucker just thought the falcon was a werdio.

"I just don't know what I'm gonna do," I sighed in frustration. Spook cocked his head at me again, them began biting at my sketchbook with his beak. I grinned, getting the hint right away, and opened the book to begin drawing.

When I first got my powers, I found myself confused, desperate for escape from the way my life had changed so drastically. Jazz and Tucker both tried to help in their own ways, each suggesting various things they liked to do to relieve stress in their lives, but none of them worked for me. I couldn't write a journal, because I was as good as dead if it was found. I didn't have time for sports or other extracurricular activities, and I wasn't quite ready to devote my life to ghost hunting just yet.

So I turned to art.

It wasn't much at first, quick doodles on the side of my notes and homework to keep me anchored in class, then I began sketching random people and things. Before I knew it, I was hooked. It delighted Jazz, though, who was always showing off my work to her classmates and co-workers, much to my great embarrassment.

As I drew, I started to sing. It was another habit of mine, to calm myself and get rid of unwanted thoughts. The song I picked this time was my current favorite, 'Savin Me' by Nickleback. I could relate really well with it, and Tucker liked to joke that it was probably written with me in mind.

"_Prison gates won't open up for me. On these hands and knees I'm crawling. And oh, I reach for you. Well I'm terrified of these four walls. These iron bars can't hold my soul and all I need is you… and oh, I scream for you…"_

I knew that feeling all too well….the feeling that you were trapped and couldn't get out. That you needed someone there, but you didn't know who. That was my life now days. I mean, Tucker and Jazz were both awesome, but even though they both knew my secret, knew me better then anyone else, living or dead, they didn't know how much I wanted someone to help me…

"…_Show me what it's like, to be the last one standing. And teach me wrong from right, and I'll show you what I can be. And say it for me, say it to me, and I'll leave this life behind me. Say it if it's worth saving me…" _

I just really wanted someone who didn't just understand me, but understood why I had to give up so much to live like I did. Someone who could see that even with my ghost powers and alter ego, a part of me was still just a normal kid who wanted a normal, ghost free life.

"…_Heaven's gates won't open up for me. With these broken wings I'm falling and all I see is you. These city wall ain't got no love for me. I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story and oh, I scream for you…"_

It was stupid and it sounded really corny, but being honest with myself, I had to admit that I wanted someone who was willing to save me in any way they could, just because. Just like I did for every stranger I saved from a ghost attack…

_**Snap!**_

I jumped at the sound, reacting instantly. Ignoring Spook's angry cry of protest, I leapt from the tree and flew with superhuman speed, slamming the source of the disturbance against a tree. When I noticed who it was, though, I got confused.

"Sam?" I asked. My roommate blinked at me, looking confused himself.

"You know me?" Sam asked, studying my face. I froze up.

"I-I heard one of the other boys call you that." I blurted out, the excuse sounding weak even to me. Getting suspicious of foul play, I added, "Why are you here? Did someone send you?" Remembering Vlad's promise, my tone became sharper as I continued. "You're not working for Plasmius, are you?"

"Who?" an even more confused Sam asked, "No one sent me! I'm not working for anyone, I don't even know who this Plasmas guy is…"

"Plasmius," I corrected automatically. Sam rolled his eyes.

"Plasmius," He repeated. "And I'm here because I had some thinking to do, and this seemed like the best place to get it done." I relaxed at that. It seemed true enough, after all. Hey, that was why I was there.

"Sorry," I said as I stepped back, and lifing my hand from his shoulder where I was pinning him to the tree. "It's just… It wouldn't be the first time he's sent human ghost hunters after me…"

"I'm not a ghost hunter," Sam sighed. "Before I came here, I didn't even believe in ghosts." I laughed at that, remembering now how Sam had mentioned that right before Ghost Dragon.

"Lost that fast," I said in a droll tone.

"No thanks to you," Sam countered. "Phantom, right?"

"Yeah," I said. Remembering that I wasn't supposed to be 'Danny' right now, I added, "And you? I mean, it is Sam, right?"

"Yeah," He answered. "Hey, um, thanks for saving me from that dragon the other day," I shrugged.

"It wasn't a big deal," I said bluntly. "Ghost Dragon isn't the toughest ghost I've ever dealt with." Sam smiled.

"So, what's with your friends?" I blushed when Sam motioned around us.

"Ah, animals have a higher sensitivity for ghosts," I answered. "And unlike humans, they can tell if a ghost is good or bad right from the start," I felt a little proud that these animals knew that I wasn't evil. Some times I wish humans had that ability, too, especially the ones who shot at me and swore to tear me apart.

"I'm guessing you're on our side, then?" Sam said, reaching to pet a stray dog, which seemed happy with the attention.

"Yeah," I answered swallowing. My hour was almost up "Listen, I gotta go…" I almost smiled when Sam looked honestly disappointed in having our conversation cut short.

"I understand," He said casually. "I should be getting back to my dorm anyways. It was nice talking to you, Phantom. And thanks again," I smiled at him before I turned invisible, flying off to get back to my dorm.

_Well that was unexpected…_

**Thanks to poppyspots and giansar! **

**Until next time!**


	5. Juggling Act

I flinched in pain as someone bumped into me in the hall, which got to the injury that Skulker had given me earlier that week. Apparently, that new poison dart he'd made was specifically for half-ghosts like me, since no matter what I did it didn't heal any faster.

Skulker and the other ghosts were just the start of my problems, though. My grades were slipping again, and I was getting less sleep then I needed. There were times I thought maybe the ghosts were more interested in making me suffer then taking over the world.

And that wasn't even including Sam.

I honestly wanted to know why my roommate was the shrewdest guy on campus. He picked up on even the smallest hints, and it was really starting to creep me out a bit, especially now that he was poking around a little more.

Jazz was still acting weird on the Sam front, too, bringing him up whenever I called, asking how he was doing… It was enough to bring up my suspicion and I still had no clue what they were trying to hide from me. Actually, I hadn't made practically any headway at all which was really frustrating.

_You're completely cool with fighting off paranormal spirits trying to take over the world, but give you a roomie with half a brain and you go all to pieces,_ I scolded myself sourly.

"Danny!" Jumping slightly, I came out of my thoughts and looked at a grinning Nate as he approached me.

"Hey, Nate," I said casually. "You need something?"

"Earplugs," Nate answered, making a face. "And I wanted to know if your friend is really oblivious or if he just wanted to torture us for something." I frowned for a second, then winced when I realized what was happening.

"Tucker's singing again, isn't he?" I asked dryly. Nate grinned.

"I think the football teams rallying up for a riot," He warned with a laughed before walking off. I made a face, then sighed and started back towards Mr. Marchez's room.

I was just about to enter when I caught the end of what Mr. Marchez was saying.

"- no wonder Danny hates him…"

"Isn't hate a bit of a strong word?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. It kind of bugged me that they were talking about me behind my back, but I knew Mr. Marchez well enough to know they weren't talking about anything I didn't want Sam knowing about.

"We're talkin' about Vlad,"

…Scratch that last statement.

"Never mind then," I said as I crossed the room to join the conversation. "It was an understatement. Loathe with every fiber of my being, THAT'S a more accurate way of putting it…"

_If you still wanna be nice about it, that is, _I added to myself, _I can think of a few things to call V-man that you wouldn't say in polite conversation._

"Uh, did you forget something?" Sam asked, looking like a kid that got caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

"Yeah," I said, leaning against a wall, and trying not to laugh "I am NOT gonna sit through lunch alone with Tucker. Not when he's got a new song he's singing along to." Sam laughed when I made a face at the thought alone.

"I'm coming." He told me, standing up. He was starting to clean up when Mr. Marchez stopped him.

"I got it, Kiddo," He said, "You go on. God knows you need all the food you can get…" I grinned slightly at the honest joke, heading towards the door again when Sam fell into step beside me.

"Hey, Danny?" He said after we'd walked in complete (yet not totally uncomfortable) silence for a few minutes.

"Yeah?" I responded absently.

"Um… I wanted to ask you about your parents…" I stopped at that, carefully masking my face of emotion. Sam saw this and winced slightly. "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, it's just…"

"Nah," I sighed. "Everything considered, I guess I owe you that much."

_I mean, I'm putting the kid's life in danger just by living with him,_ I added dryly to myself.

"My mom and dad are Jack and Maddie Fenton," I started from the beginning. "You probably don't know them, but they're pretty big in the Ghost Hunting world. Well, Mom is bigger then Dad but that's beside the point."

"Nate mentioned something about that," Sam said. "That was the first I'd heard of your parents, though." Not surprising. Most people think it's some sort of taboo to mention mom and dad now a days. Like Jazz and I will fall to pieces if they do.

"No one's seen 'em in a year," I said grimly, reluctantly adding, "They've been presumed dead, and all custody of me and Jazz has been handed over to our Dad's best friend in college."

"But you don't think so?" Sam pressed on, picking up on the reluctance.

"If they were dead, I'd know," I told him. I would, too. If a Fenton died, the ghosts would be the first to know, and it wouldn't take long for one of them to gloat about it to me. "Besides, they're good at their job, I know they're alive." They had to be…

"Anyways, Nate mentioned you know all about the whole 'Ghost Scale' thing." Sam said, changing the subject. I smiled slightly when I nodded, partly out of gratitude that Sam changed the subject, and partly because of the memory of the scale he was talking about.

"I should." I answered. "My Dad's the one who made it. Basically what they do is take the ecto-signatures that each ghost gives out and break it down to know the patterns, output and age of the ghost's powers. That way, you can know how dangerous a ghost is and what kinds of weapons to use on it,"

"Wow," Sam said, the same mildly confused look that most people got when someone started talking ghost hunting gear. Jazz, Tucker and I used to be the same way, before the accident.

"We've still got the Fenton Ecto-Examiner lying around in storage somewhere," I added. "It was the first of its kind ever made. Then again, most of the stuff Dad makes is…" Sam laughed when I rolled my eyes when I said that. Still, I had to force back a smile when I remembered when Dad first made the Ecto-Examiner…

"_Hey, Danny! Look at this!" Dad yelled, shoving a chrome, cell phone-like invention in my face. I stepped back, eyeing my dad's new 'toy' warily._

"_Uh, what is it?" I asked._

"_Why, it's the Fenton Ecto-Examiner!" he exclaimed proudly. "See, you point the antenna thingy here at a ghost, and this baby tells you the ecto-signatures the spook gives out and breaks it down so we know what we're up against!"_

"_Really?" I said, relaxing slightly. That didn't sound too threatening…_

"_Yep!" Dad said happily. "And after that, we'll know everything we need to destroy the ghost!"_

…_okay, that did._

"_Would you stop playing around with those things, Dad?" Jazz asked impatiently, forcing herself between me and Dad and putting a hand on my shoulder protectively to steer me away. "Come on, Danny, we'll be late for school."_

_I followed Jazz willingly, puzzling over how to get around this new threat when Dad's voice broke through my thoughts, filling my face with color._

"_Funny… It says here we've got a 7.24 ghost here…"_

"Nate mentioned that the Dragon Ghost scored a 3, too," Sam said, drawing me back into the conversation.

"3.34," I corrected absently. "Mild pyro-based abilities and quick to enrage, but otherwise weak compared to other ghosts."

"What about Phantom?" Sam asked curiously. I felt myself freeze up at the question.

"No one really knows," I said shortly, wanting to avoid the subject. "You can't get an accurate reading of a ghost until it's been in existence for anywhere between 4 to 5 years, since that's usually how long it takes them to stabilize their powers." How could I tell him that last time we checked, my power had reached 8.93, and it was still climbing?

"How long has Phantom existed?" Sam asked.

"About a year now," I answered, pausing curiously when Sam stopped dead.

"He's only been around a year and he can already beat older ghosts?" He asked, his voice going up an octave. I had to hide a blush as I shrugged, uncomfortable about talking about my powers like this. I mean, sure they were cool sometimes, and Tucker used to be really jealous of them, but still…

"Phantom's… not like other ghosts," I said carefully, not really seeing what made that such a big deal to people. "And anyways, he had to fight a lot to get rid of the ghosts that keep coming out of the Fenton Portal, so he gets a lot of experience…"

"Fenton Portal?" Sam repeated, quizzical.

"It connects the Ghost Zone where the ghosts live to our world," I explained. "Ghosts can get in through it if we're not careful, but it's also the only way to get ghosts out of our world, too."

"Makes sense," Sam nodded, understanding the logic behind that. "So no one knows what Phantom's capable of?"

"Not even Phantom," I admitted wryly. Sam winced sympathetically.

"Knowing you have a lot of power and not knowing how much or how it works? Scary thought…"

"You have no idea…" I said, depression settling in for a minute.

"Huh?" Sam's eyebrow kicked up at that comment.

"Nothing. Come on, We'd better get to the cafeteria before they riot and ban together to take drastic measure to stop Tucker's singing."

"He's that bad?" Sam asked, cautious now that he saw I wasn't just joking around about Tucker's singing. Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but repeat my earlier comment, this one much more amused.

"You have no idea…"

***

"_Owowowowowowowow!"_

"Don't be such a baby, Tuck," I said, rolling my eyes as I helped my friend with his bandages, trying not to laugh as his mournful wails.

"Hey!" Tucker scowled, "Not all of us can survive having our heads busted through walls, ghost boy!"

"What, you're saying that the fact that you're not half ghost means you can scream like a little girl when someone puts alcohol on your scratches?" I asked absently. Tucker rolled his eyes.

"This is what you get when your best friend's a superhero…" he grumbled. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Who's fault is that?" I countered.

"It's not my fault you were dense enough to hit that switch, okay!" Tucker griped as he pulled his shirt on. "Anyways, where'd Sam go?"

"Said he needed to head into town for something." I shrugged. "Actually, I'm almost grateful. Do you have any idea how many times he's come this close to finding me out?" I held my fingers an inch apart. Tucker grinned at me.

"And you call me a big mouth." He laughed.

"You do realize I have a huge inventory of paranormal powers to choose from to hurt you, right?" I asked, narrowing my eyes slightly.

Tucker moved away.

"Anyways, don't you get the feeling Sam's hiding something from us, too?" I asked.

"Nope," Tucker said flippantly. "Why? Is he?"

"I think so…" I said, though it sounded doubtful even to me.

"Yeah but your just paranoid," Tucker reminded me.

"You would be too if you'd been attacked by everything from dragons to VCRs." I said dryly. "Not to mention your best friends' constant electronic companion."

"You can't hold that against me!" Tucker protested, "I still say there was no way to know PDAs are ghost compatible! Besides, we all learned valuable lessons that day. I learned that organization isn't my strong point, and you learned that gorillas can kick some serious ghost butt!" I rolled my eyes and groaned.

"Tuckerrr…" I said, annoyed.

"What?" Tucker asked innocently. I sighed.

"Anyways, I told Sam I was studying over here for the night, so he shouldn't expect me back until late." Tucker laughed.

"You study?" He asked, grinning.

"I would if I didn't have to worry about ghosts taking over the world," I said defensively.

"_Riiight_," Tucker drawled out. "Face it, Danny, if it wasn't for the ghosts, you'd be playing DOOMED VII right now. Speaking of which…!" I blinked as my best friend dived for his computer.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Well, you said you told Sam you were studying here, which meant that you won't really, and you're just using me as a cover. Which means I can hunt down that Chaos dude again and show him who the true King of DOOMED is!"

"What makes you think he's even on?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh come on!" Tucker scoffed, "As good as he is, he's a total game nut! You know, the kind of guy who spends 24/7 on the computer."

"If you say so…" I shrugged, figuring Tucker had more knowledge about it them me. I mean, yeah, I played, but I wasn't obsessed…

And those seventeen straight hours I played about a month ago didn't mean anything!

Anyways, after realizing I was alone for this hunt, I went ghost and turned invisible, flying through the walls of Tucker's dorm. Once I got up high enough that all I had to worry about was birds, I turned visible again and enjoyed the breeze against my now solid face.

I never told anyone, not even Tucker or Jazz, but flying was always something I'd loved to do ever since I got my ghost powers. Though honestly, it had freaked me out the first time I looked down and saw it was a ten foot drop down to the ground. Now, though, there was no way I could ever imagine losing this power, the freedom the sky offered me. It was addicting in that it was so calming and intense.

That sounds corny even to me, though. There's no way I could ever say anything out loud. I mean, Tucker would just laugh himself silly at the thought of me being addicted to anything, and Jazz would just pull her usual psychological crap, so why bother?

I cringed at how bitter that sounded.

It wasn't that I didn't appreciate my friend and sister. It was just… sometimes I felt that here were things I just couldn't tell them. Weird, huh? I mean, they knew I was the ghost hybrid son of two over-enthusiastic ghost hunters trying to fit in and cover up my secret, but I couldn't tell them how alive I felt when I was in the air and didn't have to worry about getting a fist in my face.

The chill of my ghost sense broke me out of these thoughts, leading my eyes down to the local Nasty Burger. I groaned. What was it with ghosts and popping up in trendy, crowded places? What happened to the whole 'old abandoned house' thing? Would that just make my life too easy or something?

Sighing, I turned invisible and took a nosedive.

_Let's see,_ I thought sarcastically, _taking over a fast food joint where they serve something that might once resemble meat. I wonder who this ghost is…?_

Sure enough, insane laugher from a flaming green ghost in a pink and white apron greeted me inside the restaurant, which a lot of the smarter people had already started abandoning.

"FEAST ON THIS!" Lunch Lady roared, summoning a meat minion to attack a frightened cashier.

"How 'bout a knuckle sandwich?" I asked, slamming into the ghost.

_BOOM! _

The Nasty Burger shook under the impact as the Lunch Lady hit the wall. Turning so the ghost was still in my line of vision, I frowned pointedly at the stunned cashier.

"You know you can leave any time now, right?" I reminded him. That seemed to knock him out of his shock, and he dived for the door frantically.

Just in time, too. The Lunch Lady recovered and started attacking me again with a roar of rage, meat minions coming at me from all sides. They weren't that hard to beat though, just annoying and really creepy. Still, this was nothing I couldn't handle…

That's when the sniffling started.

Turning sharply, my eyes widened on the kid in the corner, and I forced myself not to groan.

_Great,_ I thought sarcastically, _Now I've gotta save a kid AND cover my own butt! Man I wish I'd mastered duplication! _My irritation grew when I thought about the power I couldn't quite get. Completely unfair, too, since Vlad could be four Vlads at once.

The Lunch Lady hadn't noticed the kid yet, which was lucky for both of us. I managed to overpower her pretty easily, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone come in. I knew better then to turned around and see who, though. In a fight, that was a good way to get sucker punched across the face.

Keeping my eyes on my opponent, I flinched slightly at the rage in her eyes when she stood.

_BOOM!_

I heared a yelp from somewhere behind me, but ignored it. Throwing my arms up in front of my face protectively, I instinctively turned myself invisible to avoid the Lunch Lady's attack.

"Are you okay?" I heard a decidedly female voice ask behind me. Weird thing was, though, it sounded familiar. I just couldn't place it…

"I want my mom!" The kid cried out. I flinched, feeling very sorry for the kid right about then, and suddenly I was filled with an even stronger urge to protect him.

"It's okay," the brave girl soothed him, "I'll get you out of here and we'll find her. It's gonna be okay…" I kept my attention half on Lunch Lady and half on the conversation, noticing how the boy stopped crying when the girl reassured him, "Now, I need you to hold onto my hand, okay?" She told him, "We'll run to the doors and the ghosts won't even notice us."

_Talk about an optimist,_ I thought dryly, rolling my eyes. But I guess it was okay in this case.

"O-okay," I heard the kid answer shakily. I blasted at the Lunch Lady, but she'd caught me when my attention was more on the humans then her, tying me up with a link of sausages.

"NOW!" I heard the girl shout. Both Lunch Lady and I turned when she and the boy darted towards the door, only to trip about five feet from it. Her glare darkening, the Lunch Lady flew down towards them.

_Oh, no…'_I thought, my stomach sinking.

"Would you dears like a hamburger?" I heard her ask in one of her bi-polar mood swings. Both humans shook their heads 'no,'

"_**THEN PERISH!" **_She roared. The two screamed as the ghost's aura flared to life, clutching each other close for comfort. Looking at how defenseless they were, I felt rage overcome me.

"Leave them alone!" I shouted, breaking free. Wasting no time, I nailed Lunch Lady as hard as I could with a right hook. She hit a wall, too tired to phase herself through, and I knew then that his battle was done. With that out of the way, I took out the Fenton Thermos and sucked the ghost up to be released in the Ghost Zone later.

And after the easier problem was taken care of, I turned to deal with the hard part… people.

"You two okay?" I asked the two humans.

"Getting there," The girl said, still calming herself down. The kid wasn't much better.

"Thanks," He said in a soft, shy voice. He didn't elaborate, but I was pretty sure he was talking to both of us.

"Eric?" A woman from the outside called, drawing his attention away..

"MOM!" With the kid safe and back with his family, I studied the girl curiously to see what kind of person would dive into a restaurant to save a kid, and my heart skipped a beat as my face heated up.

She was very pretty, in a delicate _'don't mess with me or I'll make your life a living hell'_ sort of way. Her black hair was a little shorter then most girls' was, coming several inches off her shoulders, but it framed her face really well. Her clothes mainly consisted of black, and I hid a grin when I saw her footwear—a pair of giant combat boots. I was genuinely surprised she could move so well in them.

She also wore a lacy black and red top that ended just above her smooth, flat stomach, and two fingerless fishnet gloves ended at her bicep, black bracelets on each wrist. A black belt with a silver rose-shaped buckle rested loosely around her hips, more for decoration then to hold up her black skirt. To add to the effect, a pair of lavender stocking hid the skin of her legs from view, disappearing into the oversized boots.

Her face was the most interesting, though. Not because of her make-up, either, but I'd never seen anyone with eyes like hers. Never in my life had I ever seen someone's gaze switch from pure defiance to warm and gentle to… fear?

"I can't go out there," She announced, getting as close to the wall as possible. Okay, that one lost me.

"Why not?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I… I just can't!" She answered, giving me that defiant look again. It didn't bother me, though; I'd been glared at by worse then a pretty girl. Instead, I turned to look outside again.

_She doesn't want the crowd to see her,_ I realized. Frowning thoughtfully, I looked back at the girl hand held out a hand. She just gaped at it in surprise, though.

"It's okay," I told her gently. "I won't let them see you. You can trust me," Why did I want to go out of my way to help a girl I'd just met escape a crowd? That wasn't like me at all. Usually, I avoided humans in my ghost form…

And why was I so relieved when she finally put her hand into mine?

I pulled her into put an arm around her waist, careful to avoid both crushing her and holding too loosely. Concentrating my power, I turned us both invisible and flew out through the Nasty Burger Walls.

I turned us visible again once we were away from the crowd, scanning the earth below us for a place to land. I glanced at the girl again out of the corner of my eye, and had to smile at the childlike joy on her face as she looked below us. It was nice to share the sky with someone else who could really appreciate it.

"Is there anywhere in particular you want me to set you down?" I asked her, delighting in the blush my question got.

"Anywhere's fine," She told me. Nodding, I landed in a clearing in a small wooded area, letting go of the girl's waist a little reluctantly. Ghost or not, though, I wasn't gonna take my chances with being slapped…

"I should probably go now," I told her smiling again before I turned to fly off. Before I could, though, a firm grip stopped me, making me turn to look at the girl curiously. Instead of looking scared, though, she looked… determined?

"Phantom," she started. "If you ever want to talk to someone, I'm willing to listen," I couldn't hide my surprise. Then, though, I fought a smile at the offer, only fighting harder when the girl's cheeks tinted pink.

"Why do you think I need someone to talk to?" I asked.

"You just look… lonely is all," I stiffened at what she was suggesting, partly because it wasn't true…

…and partly because it was.

"I've got friends," I said, half hoping that knowing this would make the girl back off a little.

"It's not that," She said quickly, obviously worried she'd offended me. "I never said that. It's just that I want to help you like you helped me just now. I want to give you something, and the only thing I have to give you is my attention and advice." I looked at her again, amazed that an ordinary human could have so much strength and compassion… but maybe she wasn't ordinary.

Smiling slightly, I took her hand off my suit, holding it for a minute

"I'll keep that in mind," I told her in a soft whisper, studying those lilac eyes again. I was sure we were only meeting for the first time, but there was something familiar about her…

…and I was still wondering about this as I flew off.

***

I was still trying to figure the girl out when I slipped unseen back into my dorm. I tried to be quiet so I wouldn't bug Sam, who was probably sleeping. I would just sneak about into my room and-

"Oof!"

…Heh…heh…. Has that table always been there?

"Danny?" I heard Sam get out of bed and come into the small living-room area. "You okay?"

"Fine," I sighed. "I was just thinking too much for once in my life, I guess…" Sam smiled in amusement.

"That bad?" he teased. "Wow remind me not to let you study at Tucker's all night ever again… Speaking of which, you've really got to teach me how to avoid the Dorm Monitors and Lancer. If you can manage it from Lala Land, you must be a true King of Sneaking Out." I smiled at the question, shaking my head.

_Sure, it's easy if you can turn invisible, intangible and fly,_ I thought wryly.

"It wasn't my studies." I said out loud, "I was thinking about… something else." I was kind of reluctant to tell Sam about the girl I saw today. I mean, what if he started teasing me like I knew Tucker was gonna when he found out?

"What?" Sam pressed, sounding curious. I felt my face heat up.

"Forget it," I said. "You'll just laugh at me," Sam rolled his eyes, looking exasperated.

"I won't laugh," He swore. He shifted to lean on the back of the couch. "Now what's the problem?"

"Not a problem," I told him at once. "More like a puzzle." Sam looked skeptically amused for a minute.

"Okay, that totally makes no sense whatsoever," He said. I had to laugh at that.

"I've gotta get to bed," I said, heading towards my room. "Night, Sam."

"Oh, come on, Danny!" Sam groaned childishly behind me. "Can't you tell me anything else about this puzzle of yours?" I stopped, and finally my will caved. I just had to say something…

"Well…" I started, thinking back to the strange girl, "…I guess one more little secret can't hurt." I almost laughed when Sam leaned forward in anticipation. "That puzzle of mine?" I said, grinning, unable to hold my excitement about her. "It's a girl. A very brave and caring girl."

And, before Sam could ask me any more questions, I ducked into my room, replaying the night in my head again…

**Whew! Done! **

**Okay! Thanks to:**

**Preemtive Karma, Minirowan and bleachbabe03!! You guys rock! X3**

**Once again, I'm gunna say sorry for not inserting those things I want to. I'm really gunna try and put it in the next chap. I can't seem to figure how input my ideas without interrupting the way Wings' made the story flow. Wish me luck, and if you, by any perchance, have any advice, I'm open.**

**Untill chapter 6!!**


	6. Day Dreams

"Wow, Danny, I didn't even know it was possible for a human to have the attention span of a goldfish…" I blinked out of my daydream to meet Sam's amused smirk, and felt my face heating up.

"Sorry, Sam," I sighed. "I was just… thinking," For some reason, Sam looked upset when he heard that.

"About that girl again?" He asked, sounding bored. Did I really mention her that much?

"Yeah," I sighed once more. "I just… she wasn't like any girl I met before! I want to see her again,"

"Do you have her number?" Sam asked.

"…No…" I admitted, feeling stupid.

"E-mail?"

"…No…" I shifted around uncomfortably, flinching even more.

"Address?" Okay, there was really no reason for my roomie to make me feel so stupid, was there? "Tell me you at least got her name?"

"I wasn't in a position to ask!" I defended myself. I wasn't, either. I mean, what would a girl say if a ghost asked for her number?

"Oh?" Sam's eyebrow kicked up. "And what was going on that was so vital you couldn't ask for her name?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I responded, rolling my eyes.

"Actually, I probably would," Sam said, his tone a little colder then it had been before. "It's just that you don't seem to trust me with whatever it is that's going on in your life." Wow, way to make a guy feel low…

"No!" I said quickly. "It's not that, Sam, it's just… What I'm involved in is dangerous. Very dangerous. And I don't want to drag you in and put your life at risk if I can help it." Sam frowned.

"It's that dangerous?" He asked softly.

"I don't even like Tuck or my sister being too mixed up in my life," I admitted, thinking back on all the times they were hurt because of ghosts.

"I don't get you at all, Danny," Sam rolled his eyes, sounding exasperated. "If this is really so dangerous, why don't you just walk away?"

"Because," I started, "It's something someone has to do, and I'm the only one who has what it takes to make a difference."

_After all, the only other half ghost out there's a-!_ My ghost sense triggered, cutting off the rest of my thought. Jumping up, I started towards the door.

"I'm gonna go see Tuck for a bit…" I muttered to Sam, knowing my best friend would cover for me if need be.

"Danny-!" Sam started.

_SLAM!_

I felt a little guilty for walking out on Sam like that, but I had bigger things to deal with right now. Heading down the hall, I stopped at a janitor's closet, glancing around before stepping in.

"Goin' Ghost!" I declared, triggering my ghost form. Once my transformation was complete, I phased through the walls and roof, looking around warily for the ghost.

"P-Please! I'll give you all the money you want, just don't hurt me!" A voice whimpered from the ground. Looking down, I saw a grungy pale biker who had a Junior student I didn't know pinned against a wall, fist drawn back to punch him.

"I don't need your money, loser!" The biker growled. "Look what you did you my bike!"

"Oh, come on, Johnny!" The girl with the biker said, rolling her eyes in annoyance, "It's just a scratch. Are you gonna take me to the drive in or not?!"

"In a minute, Kitten," Johnny 13 answered his girlfriend absently before turning back to the kid. "Now, where were we…? Oh yeah! Now I remember!" With a growl, the ghost threw his fist to deck the kid. Cringing slightly, I shot down and grabbed him before the hit connected, turning us both intangible and phasing out of his grip. "What the-?"

I turned us tangible again once we were well out of Johnny's way, setting the kid down. He took off almost as soon as his feet touched earth. Sighing, I turned back to Johnny, who'd finally caught onto what had happened. Greasy, smelly AND slow? Man, what had Jazz SEEN in this guy?

"What's the deal, punk?" Johnny growled at me. "No one asked you to butt in!"

"Yeah, but I will anyways," I said, shrugging. I wasn't scared. Johnny himself wasn't much of a threat. Neither was his girlfriend, Kitty for that matter.

As soon as the word girlfriend crossed my mind, I thought of the girl from the Nasty Burger again and blushed. Man, had I fallen bad or what?

Before I could think about this any more, though, Johnny let out a shrill whistle and a command.

"Shadow; ATTACK!" I winced and took to the air, Johnny 13's bad luck shadow at my heels. I tried to stay up high so we wouldn't wreck anything, but Shadow still managed to put out a lamp post or two, and a couple walking in the park nearly got crushed by a falling tree branch.

Finally, I found my way into the Casper Auditorium, where Casper and Wendy drama students had started holding rehearsals for the play Phantom of the Opera, which would be showing in December according to Jazz who was the casting director and stage manager.

She was still trying to convince me to try out for a part, but there was nothing in this world that could get me on a stage in front of a bunch of people. Absolutely NOTHING.

Anyways, it didn't take the crew long to notice us flying around, Shadow trashing all the equipment he touched. And after a punch from the ghost had me slamming into the floor, I noticed Jazz gaping at me from next to the controls.

That's when I got an idea.

"Lights!" I mouthed at her frantically as Shadow closed in on me, a maniacal grin on his dark face. "Hit the lights!" Jazz looked confused for a second, then her eyes widened in understanding and she wheeled around to push up all the switches at once, successfully blinding me.

Luckily, she also managed to obliterate Shadow before he could follow up on that grin.

"Thanks," I gasped out, blinking dots out of my vision as my sister turned the light back down.

"No problem," Jazz responded, smiling. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked her pointedly. "I'm a ghost, remember?"

"Oh!" Jazz flinched, "Right… they can't do much worse then kill ya!" Jazz laughed nervously.

"Phantom!" I jumped at the familiar call, wheeling to see Paulina giving me another of her adoring gazes. Normally, something like that would at least make me blush, but now…

"Everyone's okay, right?" I asked, glancing around.

"Fine, Oh Spooky One," Liz (Costume Manager) said with a wry grin. "But you might wanna haul ass before Lancer and Testlaff get here. They're already on their way." I flinched.

"Right," I said hastily, about to turn myself invisible. I lost my concentration when I was tackled from the side, this time by Paulina.

"But it wasn't Phantom's fault!" She whined. "Can't he just stay and watch me perform? I'm dedicating this one to him anyways," That last statement had a lot of guys glaring at me jealously, but I just winced.

_She wouldn't give me a second glance as Fenton, _I though bitterly, _But Phantom is cool enough that she practically throws herself on him.'_Never mind that Fenton and Phantom are one in the same.

"Uhh…" That was all I could thing of to say. It turned out I didn't need anything else, though, as the double doors to the auditorium burst open just them, and a motorcycle drove up to skid to a stop in the stage, It's rider glaring murder at me.

"You'll pay for what you did to my shadow, you little creep!" Johnny yelled, scowling.

"Johnny," Kitty said, glancing between us worriedly, "leave it alone! Let's just get outta here already,"

"You think you're so tough, punk?" Johnny asked, ignoring Kitty. She glared at him and huffed slightly, and I couldn't help but wince.

Johnny and Kitty had only had relationship problems once before as far as I knew, and I ended up getting dragged into it when Kitty overshadowed Paulina's body and tricked me into dating her to make Johnny jealous. I'd managed to convince them both to leave and save Paulina, even though it took a lot of time. Irony is, though, the second I saved her Paulina went back to ignoring Fenton after she promptly fell head over heels in love with Phantom.

That's fate for ya, huh?

"Well? You gonna answer me or what?" Johnny demanded.

"Why would I?" I scoffed. "Yes or no, you're gonna try and hit me anyways…" Johnny's scowl darkened. He didn't miss that 'try' part.

"Why you little-!" To both my and his surprise, he was suddenly engulfed in a bright neon blue light, with sucked him into a familiar vortex. Everyone in the auditorium was left gaping at Jazz, who was giving the capped Thermos an annoyed look.

"You know," She said in a dry tone, "You talk way too much." I grinned. Apparently, I wasn't the only one still holding a grudge…

"Johnny!" Kitty gasped. Then she glared at my sister, "Let Johnny go right now!" She ordered, "Let him go or I'll-!"

"You'll what?" I asked, flying over to stand between her and Jazz. Kitty flinched, her eyes darting from the thermos in my sister's hands to me nervously.

"…Uhh…" She said, paling. I sighed.

"Go back to the Ghost Zone," I told her, "I'll put Johnny back in later." Kitty looked uncertain for a moment before she finally flew off without a word, knowing there was nothing else she could do for her boyfriend.

"Thanks," Jazz said with a grin. Walking over, she handed me the thermos. "Take care of this, will ya?" She asked me.

"Sure thing," I said with a laugh, accepting the thermos.

"You'd better go now," Jazz said, glancing at the doors warily. "If the Headmaster and Headmistress are really coming…"

"Already on my way," I told her, hovering up a little.

"But my audition!" Paulina whined.

"I'll check out the end performance," I promised her when I saw the way her face fell. I always felt guilty if I left someone feeling bad…

"Promise?" Paulina said hopefully.

"Uh, why not?" I answered, feeling awkward. Jazz shot me a disapproving frown, but said nothing. I knew I was in for an earful later, though. "I've gotta go now," And, before anyone else could stop me, I flew out through the roof, heading back in the direction of FentonWorks.

It was weird. Once the thought of Paulina flirting with me would have me soaring, but now I barely felt anything. And what I did feel was embarrassed and awkward. It wasn't that I disliked her, it was just… I didn't find her that interesting anymore.

I mean, now that I thought about it, she was a really predictable girl. She always wanted the same things, always acted the same way, and always said the exact same words. And everything she did say to Phantom just told me she was only interested in the fairytale life she'd probably dreamed about as a little girl, with her being the princess and me her chosen knight in shining armor.

I found my thoughts drifting back to the girl from the Nasty Burger. She was the exact opposite personality-wise. Cunning, independent and completely unpredictable. It was really refreshing in the wake of gold diggers and snobs….

I scowled to myself, blushing slightly. Why did my thoughts keep drifting back to that girl? I'd only met her once, for crying out loud! If I kept this up, I'd become an obsessive stalker. Still, a part of me really, REALLY regretted that I never even got her name…

Movement drew my eyes downward, where I saw Sam taking a walk outside, unaware of the grinning football team not too far off…

"MANSON!" I scowled in annoyance when Dash threw the football at my roommate, hitting him in the back of the head. I could sympathize, if I hadn't taken as many blows to the head as I have, Dash's throws would hurt a lot more.

…Okay, that didn't come out right.

"Good one, Dash!" A football player laughed loudly. Sam glared in response.

"Why is it that you can count the exact number of brain cells 9 out of 10 jocks have on one hand?" He asked them dryly. I grinned at his nerve, my eyes narrowing when the football team went quiet.

_Hmm…_

"Say that again, pipsqueak," Dash growled angrily, grabbing Sam and lifting him off his feet.

"What, you've got bad hearing, too?" Sam shot back. I grinned as Dash growled angrily, an idea coming to me that would both be very, very entertaining and get Sam out of danger.

"That's it!" Dash yelled, drawing back to hit my friend and roomie. "Say your prayers, Manson!" Sam braced himself for the punch as I sprang into action, going invisible and smacking around the football players a bit, unseen the whole time.

"What the-?" Dash stopped, confused at what must've looked like really weird behavior to him.

"Hey, who kicked me?" One player demanded.

"And someone smacked my head!" Kwan yelled accusingly.

"It's a ghost!" One of the smaller ones said, paling slightly. Grinning at my success, I flew towards Dash, ready for the grand finale.

_Three… two… one…'_

"Stop screwing around guys," Dash snorted, "There's no-!" triggering my powers, I watched as Dash glowed green, waiting for just the right moment to pull his jeans down and reveal his underwear (Why the guy still wore tighty-whiteys was beyond me…) "GHOOOOOST!" Dash wailed, trying to run away and pull his pants up at the same time.

"Told you we were too close to Dorm 13!" One of the football players yelled at Dash.

"Shut up and keep moving!" Dash yelled back. I couldn't stop myself, I had to laugh. Next to me, Sam jumped, looking around a bit in confusion.

"That was actually pretty fun…" I said lightly, turning visible so I could talk to Sam man-to-man. "You okay?" Sam looked confused for a second more before he finally answered me.

"Fine," He said, blinking. "Uh… Thanks?"

"It's nothing," I said. My face was stretching to hold my grin. "Actually, I had an unfair advantage, given that they couldn't see or touch me. Still, being able to pants Dash without getting mauled is something half the school would trade an arm to do,"

"Wonder why…" Sam said dryly. "Anyways, thanks again. This is the third time you've saved me since I moved here." I froze up at that.

"Third?" I repeated, my stomach doing flip-flops. I'd only saved him as Phantom twice, but I'd also protected him as Fenton once, too. Did he know…?

"Sorry, I meant second," Sam corrected himself. "Just miscounted was all…" I relaxed slightly, still a little suspicious as Sam laughed nervously. Still, if he knew then why wouldn't he tell me he did? I mean, he wasn't like Jazz, who was patient enough to try and wait for me to come to her with the confession.

"Well, I'd better go before Dash goes crying to Lancer and he turns the Ghost shield on," I said, flying higher. Not that that was any problem for me, but it was better not to let them know it. "Later!" and with that I turned invisible again, flying off to FentonWorks like I'd originally planned.

***

"So you told Paulina you'd come to the play, huh?" Tucker said, sounding amused.

"Yeah," I sighed, running a hand through my hair, "But what else could I do? I mean, she looked like I was breaking her heart or something…" Tucker shook his head.

"You're too nice, Danny," He said. "I mean, you go around saving people's lives on a daily basis, then you bend over backwards to make your rabid fan-girl happy?"

"It's not that big a deal," I protested. "I just have to pop in for five seconds and let Paulina see me, maybe stop into her dressing room after and congratulate her or something," Tucker shook his head.

He and I were waiting outside a local café for Valerie to show up so Tucker could take her shopping for the dance. I'd given him some of the money Vlad was always sending me and Jazz (I rarely ever touched it, my pride not allowing me to rely on my archenemy.) and argued with Tucker endlessly when he swore he'd repay me. Like I said, I never did anything with it, and it wasn't like I was short on cash…

"Tucker! Danny!" Valerie called as she approached. "Your roomie stay back today?" She asked me, grinning.

"Tucker couldn't find anymore rope," I responded. Valerie laughed. "Anyways, you two get going. I've got to do a little shopping before I head back to Casper,"

"Right," Tucker said with a grin, "See you, Danny!"

I waved to the couple casually as I headed down the street to the local pharmacy that I usually bought my medical supplies in. I had promised Jazz that when I started to run low I'd buy some more stuff. As I walked away from the pair, I started to feel a little lonely, and thought back to the girl yet again. I nearly groaned.

_Give it up, Fenton, _I told myself, _You'll never see her again,_

With that last depressing though, I sighed and entered the Pharmacy, still mulling over my bad luck.

"Hello, Welcome to Yin/Yang Medical Practice, how can I… help…" I frowned in confusion as the cashier trailed off as if they'd seen a ghost, glancing over to see what the problem was. I froze up when I met startled lilac eyes.

_No way…_

"YOU!"

**Ehehehehe….x3 yesh! Now you all know the story about how my computer….eheh…died….right? well, I did this chapter on speed 11. Say thank you! Okay, just kidding x3**

**Thanks to: minirowan, bleachbabe03, Infinite freedm, Renting, wtchcool, Dwarg91 & YinYangFox! **

**Right. Till next chap! **

**~Elena**


	7. Hostage

"Do I know you?" The girl asked me. She looked a little nervous for some reason…

"Yeah…" I said before I stopped to think about what I was saying, "I mean no! I mean uhh…" I shift around nervously.

_There's the weak-knee thing again…_ I thought sourly to myself.

"…I was at the Nasty Burger yesterday. I saw you save that kid." Seeing how her face paled even more rapidly at that and remembering how she didn't want the crowd to see her, I added, "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I was the only one who saw you!"

"Uhh, thanks?" The girl said sounding uncertain. I was a little disappointed, hoping for a bit more reaction from the girl "And could you not tell anyone else about that?" I smiled a little at that. After all, who would believe me if I did say anything?

"Don't want anyone to know you go around battling ghosts in your free time?" I flirted lightly, trying to ignore my pounding heart and control my powers, which always became difficult every time I got nervous or excited. I felt happy to see the girl grin back at me.

"Of course not," She said lightly. "You know how that sort of thing kills a social life," I couldn't help but laugh at that, thinking of my own terrible experience with ghost fighting and dating.

"You have NO idea…" I said, grinning. Torn for a second, I decided to get my shopping done and talk to the girl a little more at the register. I didn't want to come off as creepy or desperate, after all…

I shopped at Yin/Yang all the time, so knew the merchandise like the back of my hand. It took me roughly three minutes to get everything I needed and meet up with mystery girl again at the register.

"Anyways…" I hesitated glancing at the nametag pinned to her black high-collar vest with various Greenpeace and other environmental pins on it, combined with random safety pins and the all-knowing happy bunny here and there, and couldn't hide my surprise "Samantha? Wow, THAT'S a weird coincidence; my roomie's name is Sam…" Talk about freaky…

"Yeah, you know how some names are nowadays," Samantha said in a casual tone. "There's four Sams' at the school I go to now, and don't get me started on how many Samanthas' there are."

"Guess so…" I said, shrugging. "What do you prefer?"

"Sam," She answered automatically. Then her eyes went wide as she added, "Of course, if it gets too confusing for you-!"

"Relax," I laughed. "He'll just be my friend Sam, and you'll be the pretty Sam," I grinned in pride when I noticed I'd seen fire trucks in a duller shade of red then Sam was sporting right now. "Anyways, my art teacher told me before that life's nothing without confusion. It's what keeps us awake."

_Actually, he said something a little different, but hey, why scare the poor girl off already?_ I asked myself wryly.

"So, you're an art student, huh?" Sam asked. "Any good?"

"I can only hope," I answered before adding, "Then again, it seems to be against some unwritten code of the cosmos for an artist to find perfection in their work, even when others see it." Sam laughed.

"All too true…" She agreed. "So what brings a fit young kid like you to a place like this on a weekend buying enough stuff to take care of a small army of wounded soldiers?"

I winced slightly as she gave my bags a wary look. I guess buying so much stuff all at once did seem a little weird to a normal person…

"Let's just say I'm not always fit and keep it simple for both of us," I said carefully. "I'm in here pretty much every week, sometimes more. Speaking of which, I've never seen you face around before… other then at the Nasty Burger thing, I mean."

"I just moved here at the beginning of the school year," Sam answered casually. "And I just started working here today. I don't get out much… That's $98.75."

"Do you go to Wendy?" I asked as I handed her the money, my curiosity building. I wonder if Jazz knew her…?

"No," Sam said, a look of revulsion passing her face before she turned to the cash register, "I go to Stretch Academy. And you're a Casper boy, huh?"

I cringed at the question, glancing down at my uniform. I knew I should've changed before someone into town…

"Ah, yeah," I answered, tensing up slightly. I'd had way too many girls flirt with me just because Vlad had money, and I didn't want Sam to be one of them… "But my legal guardian wants me to be home schooled."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Sam said.

"Maybe not to you…" I said dryly, thinking of all the things Vlad wanted to 'teach' me. "Anyways, we've already paid for the full Casper enrollment, so…" I trailed off when I realized what I'd just admitted.

…_Crap,_

"You're a full enrollment student?" Sam asked, wide eyed. I flinched, wanting to hang myself for that slip.

"Uh, yes?" I said with a meek smile.

"You're not one of those rich playboys, are you?" Sam asked. I couldn't tell if she was being serious or not.

"No!" I said quickly, not wanting to scare her off already, "No, I'm nothing like that! I'm just a normal kid who got dragged into a rich guy's life."

"And the rich guy is…?"

"Do you always ask complete strangers this many questions?" I asked sharper then I should've Vlad wasn't someone I discussed with ANYONE. Sam flinched guiltily, and I wondered if maybe I was being too hard on her.

"Sorry." She said before I could explain myself. "You don't have to answer that, I was just… trying to make conversation!" Sam laughed nervously and averted her eyes in embarrassment.

_She's just as nervous as I am, _I realized, my glare softening. That meant she liked me too, right? So maybe there was a chance this time…

"Really?" I said, smiling slightly at how cute the girl was acting. "Well, I'm not much for talking, but I'm a pretty good listener. You want me to tell you so much about myself, I need to know more about you," Sam grinned back at me, and the tension ebbed like it'd never been there to begin with.

"Fair enough," Sam nodded. "Ask me any question."

"Why are you working here?" I asked, crossing my arms and giving Sam a smug smile.

"I felt a little sorry for Dr. Jeerings." She said. "And anyways, I figured I could use a little extra money now and then…"

"Why did you save that kid yesterday?" I pressed on. I wanted to see how far I could push it before she got uncomfortable. More then that, though, I wanted to know what she thought of Phantom, but it would sound weird if I just blurted it out right away.

"Instinct, I guess," Sam shrugged nonchalantly. "I didn't want to sit around and do nothing while a little kid was in danger." I had to admit, I was impressed. This girl would make a really great mom some day…

_ACK!_

"And Phantom? Why did you go with him?" I asked quickly before I could continue that line of thought.

"I dunno," Sam sighed, "I just got the feeling I could trust him. I'm a pretty good judge of character,"

"Really?" I grinned. I really couldn't help it, "What did you think of Phantom?" I wasn't sure to feel proud or jealous when she blushed at the question. Really, what kinda guy gets JEALOUS of HIMSELF?

"He's… interesting," Sam said vaguely.

"Is that good or bad?" I asked blankly.

"Figure it out for yourself," Sam replied, grinning playfully. I laughed.

"Well, do you like him?" I continued

"I think he's an honest, loyal guy who needs a few trustworthy friends," Sam said firmly. "Other then that, I couldn't say. I've only met him once."

"Maybe," I said, bemused. Did I really seem that lonely to her?

"Maybe?" Sam repeated with a pointed look. Knowing she wanted me to say more, I gave her the smile Dad swore Jazz and I had inherited from mom whenever she had a secret. It was one of the few looks in the world that could drive him nuts and didn't have anything to do with ghosts, since Dad didn't like things being kept from him. (Irony.)

"For all you know, Phantom could have loyal and trustworthy friends," I told Sam carefully, knowing this was my chance to leave a big impression. "Maybe only a handful, but more then enough to keep him safe and happy. Maybe he's looking for something different… something he sees in you that he's never seen in anyone else…" I hid a grin when Sam blushed again, trying to think of more things to say to get her to react like that. It was really cute, after all…

"Yeah, right," Sam snorted. "A superhero like that can do way better then me," I frowned a little at that. Did she really have such a low opinion of herself?

"Well, if he did like you, would you be interested?" I asked her, refusing to give up, "Hypothetically."

"Well _hypothetically_," Sam repeated, smirking. "I'd have to say that I don't know him well enough to decide something like that,"

_So she's not interested in Phantom, huh?_ I thought, honestly a little disappointed, _Guess that means a geeky loser like Fenton doesn't stand a chance…_Still, it was worth a shot, right?

"I see," I said out loud.

"Why so interested in my opinion on the ghost-boy, anyways?" Sam asked, sounding curious. I felt myself blush before I could stop myself.

"No reason!" I assured her, chuckling nervously "Just… ah… just trying to make conversation!" I cringed inwardly at having to use her excuse from earlier, sounding even more lame then usual.

"Well, do you have any more questions?" Sam asked. "Or is this _conversation_ over?" I hesitated. Should I?

_It's now or never, pal, _I told myself.

"Actually, there is once more thing…" I said, trying to work the words out in my head so I didn't sound like a dork, "Ah, look, this may be a little… bold… but see there's a dance coming up soon…" Right on cue, my ghost sense went off, alerting me to danger. I couldn't help but groan "Not now…"

_I'm starting to think Tucker's right about tem timing these things…_ I thought sourly.

"What?" Sam asked, looking confused and disappointed. It was too late, though, the moment was lost and someone could get hurt if I didn't stop the ghost.

"Nothing," I said, picking up al my bags."I gotta go. See you around, Sam!" And before the girl could protest, I left, knowing that my chances of getting a date were probably nonexistent now.

Making sure no one was around, I snuck into an alley to transform, and leave my bags somewhere I could pick them up later. Still a little sour that the ghost had blown my big chance, I was a little more angry then usual as I cried out.

"Goin' Ghost!"

***

"Now where are you…?" I muttered to myself, looking around for the ghost. I couldn't see anything in the nearby shops, but he was definitely somewhere nearby. I frowned in confusion.

_It's way too quiet for a ghost attack… _I noted, wondering what was going on. _Did my ghost sense go off as a fluke? _I doubted it. My ghost sense had always been my most reliable power, why would it go nuts on me now?

It didn't make any sense, though, since there was none of the screams for help that usually came with ghost attacks. The only two humans'd ever seen face a ghost down on their own were Valerie and…

I stopped, paling.

_Oh, no…_

Wheeling around, I shot back through the walls of the Yin/Yang Pharmacy, nailing the ghost as he advanced on Sam and sending us both into the storage room, where a pile of empty boxes stopped his trip.

I frowned at the ghost, who was way too familiar and far less then welcome. Bertrand was the snippy little assistant of Spectra, and like her he fed on teen misery. Jazz had helped me beat them once before, but now I was on my own.

"Bertrand," I said coolly. "I thought you and Spectra went packing after the Fenton Peeler thing." The first response from the green ghost was a toothy grin.

"Times change, kiddo," He mocked me. "And plans change with them! Not that you'll figure that out until it's too late…" I asked, my eyebrow kicking up. Some great master plan…

"Of course not." Bertrand said, disappearing. I froze up, steadying myself for an attack that never came. Instead, I heard a muffled noise behind me before Bertrand finished his little speech. "We just wanted to borrow your little girlfriend for a bit," I twisted around, feeling my insides go cold at the sight of the goth Bertrand was restraining.

"SAM!" I yelled out, guilt and fear consuming me. Bertrand laughed.

"If you want her back, meet us at the abandoned hospital!" He called. "Ta!" Before I could stop them, Bertrand teleported away, and I growled, angry at myself for falling into such a stupid, obvious trap and getting Sam in danger because of it.

Taking out my cell phone, I dialed Tucker number frantically.

"Tucker here,"My friend responded when he picked up on the other line, "I'm kinda busy now, so can you make this-"

"TUCKER!" I shouted, cutting my friend off, "We've got a problem."

"Does it come with a name?" Tucker asked.

"Two," I said grimly. "Spectra and Bertrand,"

"Them again?" Tucker said, and I could tell he was making a face. "What did they do this time?"

"They kidnapped Sam," I answered.

"Why would ghost kidnap your roommate?"Tucker asked, bewildered.

"Not Sam_uel_!" I scowled. "Sam_antha_!"

"…We know a Samantha?"

"I do," I sighed. "Look, long story short I met that girl again and Bertrand kidnapped her so I have to get her back."

"Oooh…" Tucker said, "How does Sam fit into all this again?"

"TUCKER!"

"Alright! Alright!" Tucker said. "What do you need?"

"Take all my stuff to my dorm for me and come to the abandoned hospital at the edge of town," I said. "Bring me a Fenton thermos and anything else you can get your hands on,"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tucker said. "Back up, did you just say to come to an abandoned _HOSPITAL_?" I groaned, belatedly remembering Tucker's fear of any and all places that offered any sort of medical aid.

"Come on, Tucker, you don't even have to go inside!" I said, exasperated.

"Right," Tucker said firmly. "Cause I'm not going,"

"Tucker!" I growled. "Someone's LIFE is in danger!"

"Can't Jazz go?" Tucker whined.

"She's volunteering at East Mercy Hospital today," I reminded Tucker. "She had to turn her cell off there, remember? And this isn't something you page someone about…" Tucker groaned.

"It always comes back to hospitals, doesn't it?" He grumbled. "Fine! Just don't expect me to come inside! She's your girlfriend, pal, and your problem!"

"Thanks, Tucker," I said, sighing in relief. I glared when the hospital came into view, phasing through the wall into the building.

It didn't take me long to find Spectra, her aura was full of so much darkness and misery it was hard to miss. Plus she'd 'fed' recently, which always left her pretty open to anyone with half a sixth sense. When I got to the room she was in, I found Bertrand there as well, along with Sam, who was lying on a cot, unmoving. I glared suspiciously as Spectra.

"What did you do to her?" I growled out.

"Relax, Danny," Spectra said, smirking. "Your little girlfriend is fine. She's just unconscious is all."

"Sam's not my girlfriend!" I protested. "We've barely spoken!"

"Obviously you've spoken enough, if Bertrand here thinks you have an intimate relationship her," Spectra said, flicking a thumb at her assistant. "There's no use denying the obvious Danny," I glared. It kind of spooked me that Spectra used my name. She was one of the only two ghosts that did so, after all

Kitty was the other one. Vlad always called me by my full name, with was actually more irritating in its own right. Everyone else just called me by nicknames, Ghost-kid, Ghost-child, Ghost-boy, Punk, Brat, Whelp, Dipstick…you get what I mean.

"Well what do you want?" I asked sharply.

"Isn't it obvious, Danny?" Spectra asked sweetly. "All I want is revenge." And, before I could say or do anything else, Spectra attacked me.

Dodging her attack, I punched Spectra away only to be attacked from the side my Bertrand. Instinct had me going intangible before I hit the wall, so I went flying through a couple rooms before I regained control, flipping and going tangible again to launch myself off the side of a cot and into Bertrand as he flew into the room.

That's when my phone rang.

Growling slightly, I flipping it opened and hid behind a fallen desk to protect myself from the ecto-blasts Bertrand was throwing around now.

"Look, I'm kinda busy right now!" I snapped, shooting a blast back as I talked and cringing when I saw Spectra had rejoined the fray. "So if this isn't something REALLY important-!"

"Easy, man!" Tucker said. "I'm here, alright?" I sighed in relief.

"All set?" I asked.

"You know it," Tucker responded. Grinning, I shut my cell again, flying out to confront the ghosts.

"Catch me if you can, slowpokes!" I cried out, shooting through the walls at top speed. Glaring, Spectra and Bertrand followed, straining to keep up with my pace and completely oblivious to my trap.

_And she's supposed to have a PhD… _I thought dryly.

Leading the two outside, I circled around until I found Tucker. Then I turned again to face down my opponents.

Bertrand reached me first in his feline form, and I dodged his attack before grabbing his tail and swinging him around a few times, throwing him at Spectra, who went intangible to avoid getting hit. Bertrand smacked into a tree, and a burst of blue light later he became the least of my problems.

Spectra reached me not too long later, and I felt the wave of her demoralizing aura before she could even touch me. Shaking it off the best I could, I dodged her first attack only to get hit by a second surprise hit, sending me to the ground.

"Some hero," Spectra laughed mockingly. "If you can't even save those you love, how do you expect to keep the rest of the world safe?"

_Don't let her get to you, Danny,_ I told myself sternly, _Remember what Jazz said, use her own technique against her, crush her spirit and she can't touch anyone else's,_

"Better then being a nothing that feeds on misery," I said out loud. "Right now you barely have an existence and you're lecturing me about how I should spend my life?" Spectra scowled at me, and I knew I'd hit a nerve.

"But I do have an existence," She said with a cold smile. "And that's all that matters to me,"

"Yeah, yeah," I yawned, going in for the kill. "Can we get this over with while at least I'M still young, Hag?" Spectra howled in rage at that, diving to attack me carelessly, her blows wild and angry. Grinning, I dodged them all, almost having fun now.

When Spectra finally left me an opening, I took it and kicked her hard in the stomach so she slumped against a rock. Seeing his cue, Tucker instantly sucked the ghost up.

"Gimme that," I said, taking the thermos from my friend. "You've had too many accidents with it recently and I'm not taking any chances."

"Anything that gets me away from this place faster," Tucker said, cringing up at the hospital. "Can we go now?"

"Just a sec," I said, flying back into the abandoned hospital and to the room Sam was being kept in. She was still curled up on the cot when I found her, but thankfully she was still breathing. Spectra hadn't killed her or anything like that. Gathering the girl in my arms, I flew back out to meet Tucker.

"That her?" Tucker asked curiously. "She's kinda cute… Still, never took you as the goth type, man,"

"Hey, she's really nice," I defended Sam. "Not to mention brave,"

"Whatever," Tucker shrugged. "What are you gonna tell her?"

"The truth," I answered. "She deserves that much, right?"

"If you say so," Tucker said. "I'll get back to Casper. Unlike some people, I actually get into trouble for skipping curfew."

"What can I say, invisibility rocks," I said grinning. Tucker laughed as he gave me a short wave and started back to his scooter and I took to the air again, heading towards FentonWorks to set Spectra and Bertrand back into the Ghost Zone.

***

I sighed as I rested against my tree, ignoring the way Spook kept his attention trained on Sam, who was lying on the ground.

I hadn't known what to do with her. After all, I couldn't take her to my dorm for obvious reasons, and taking her to the shop would be suicide since everyone probably thought I was the one who kidnapped her, and since I didn't know where she lived, it left me in a bind.

Finally, I decided to bring her to the forest and wait for her to wake up. She could find her way home from there, after all…

As I waited, I studied the girl curiously. The dark image of a girl who kept others at an arm's length was destroyed by the pure innocence of her peaceful sleep. Her face looked softer now, more angelic. I knew she was about the same age as me, but she looked impossibly young right now…

_Yeah, but I'm young, too,_ I reminded myself bitterly, _I'm 15, still just a kid. But taking on what I have makes me feel older then I am sometimes…_ I mentally sighed before my attention went back to Sam as she started to wake up. Also sensing the girl was stirring, Spook flew silently down to rest at the girl's side for a closer look, making her eyes snap open in alarm.

"It's alright," I told her softly. "Spook won't hurt you," Sam blinked, then turned to face me, relaxing when she recognized who I was.

"Spook?" She questioned, glancing at the bird. Satisfied that Sam wasn't a threat, Spook returned to my side. "He's beautiful."

"Isn't he?" I couldn't keep my pride at my feathered companion out of my voice. "I found him about a year ago, in these woods. He was half dead thanks to some dumb jock that broke his wing by throwing stones at him." I saw Sam's face darken and grinned. "Don't worry, I made the jerk pay, believe me," I felt myself become a little more relaxed as Sam's wry smile.

"Did you save me again?" She asked, eyeing me curiously. I shrugged, smiling slightly.

"Spectra's not that big a deal," I told her.

"Do you say that about all the ghosts who attack you?" Sam asked, and I couldn't help but grin.

"Honestly? No," I laughed, thinking of the stronger ghosts I'd faced down. "There are some that are smarter and stronger then ghosts like Spectra and the Lunch Lady."

"What do those two score on the Ghost Scale?" Sam asked. I blinked in shock.

"You know about the Ghost Scale?" I asked. "I though you just moved here,"

_Why is that popping up all over the place all of a sudden? _I wondered to myself.

"I did," Sam answered at once. "One of my classmates told me about it, and I asked around," I grinned a little at that.

"Impressive," I complimented her, before sighing and thinking back on the last time I'd checked them, "I think Lunch Lady scored a 2.8, since she pretty much only controls meat." I noticed that Sam shuddered at that and wondered what that was about, "Bertrand was a 4.1, a fairly weak shape-shifter and Spectra was a 6.12,"

"Nice to know that she was right about one thing," Sam said, sounding bitter. I stiffened.

"She spoke to you?" I asked sharply, flying down to her side. Anything Spectra said couldn't have been good, especially if it got this reaction from her. "What did she say?"

"Nothing that wasn't true," Sam sighed in depression. My lips thinning, I grabbed the girl gently by her chin and made her turn to face me.

"Listen to me," I told her sternly. "Spectra was a psychologist when she was alive, and in death she keeps herself young by feeding off the misery of teenagers. She even tricked me that way at first. Even if you think whatever she told you was true, beating yourself up over it just means that she won," Sam frowned in concentration for a few minutes as she thought about all this.

"Ghosts age?" She blurted out. I forced myself not to laugh at the question.

"Some do," I answered. "It depends on how powerful they are. Powerful ghosts stay the age they died at for forever, while weaker ones will age."

"What's the cut off point?" Sam asked.

"Somewhere around 8.5. Don't change the subject."

"Who's changing the subject?" She asked. "I'm not changing the subject."

"You still haven't told me what she said," I pointed out. Sam flinched and, worried I was trading deep waters, I added, "You don't have to tell me if it's super personal, but if you really want me to trust you as someone I can talk to…" Sam huffed and crossed her arms, looking irritated and cute.

"Fine, fine!" She moaned before her face fell into a serious look. "…She told me I was weak. She said… she said I was always getting in the way, always counting on other people to save me," I frowned at that. That sounded like Spectra alright…

"You're not weak." I told her right off the bat. Sam laughed bitterly in return.

"How do you know?" She asked me. "You don't know me, and we've only spoken what, one time?"

"Still, I know you're not weak," I insisted, annoyed she had so little faith in her courage when it was so obvious to me. "Actually, I've never seen a girl as strong as you are, that's one of the things that make you so interesting." Sam stared at me.

"One of?" She repeated, smiling and blushing slightly. "As in there are more things that make me interesting?"

"Of course," I grinned shamelessly. For some reason, it was always easier for me to be braver and Phantom. "Your courage, for one. I've never met anyone else who will dive into a ghost infested restaurant to save a kid they've never met,"

"You were the one who did all the real work," Sam insisted.

"Yeah, but I have paranormal powers most people would only dream about," I reminded her bitterly. "Of course, when it comes to paying the price it takes for those powers, pretty much all of those people would rather go without 'em," Not that I got a choice…

"How did you die?" Sam asked, flinching as soon as she finished the question. I froze.

"I'd rather not talk about that," I said, hoping that would steer her away form THAT subject.

"Right," Sam shifted guiltily. "Sorry."

"Hey, you're probably not the first person to wonder that." I said, shrugging slightly, "You ARE the first to have the guts to ask, though. Then again, most people scream and run when they see me."

"Paulina wouldn't," Sam said. Part of me wondered how she knew Paulina as I answered that challenge

"Actually, she's really not any better," I told her. "It's just that she screams and runs TOWARDS me instead of away. In a way, that's worse, since she can come up out of nowhere and start attacking me like a rabid fan girl." Sam laughed at that, and I had to smile "You know, you've got a cute laugh," I grinned as Sam blushed furiously, looking at the ground.

"Can I just ask you one more question?" She asked me in an almost shy sort of way.

"Shoot," I responded.

"Why did that ghost kidnap me, of all people?" She asked. I blushed, remembering what Spectra had said.

"…That was my fault," I told her guiltily, "She kidnapped you because Bertrand thought we have an… 'intimate relationship,' in his own words," Sam blushed herself at that.

"What could've given him that idea?" She asked. My face heated up even more at that.

"Who knows," I said, my heart pounding. "Anyways, I understand if you want to take back what you said earlier. About wanting to listen to my problems, I mean,"

"Are you kidding?" Sam looked bewildered. "Why would I do that?"

"Because my enemies have already started targeting you when we can count the number of conversations we've had on one hand," I told her, worried that Spectra had hit her too hard when she knocked her out. "Sam, if I keep talking to you like this, it'll only get you into more trouble."

"I'll be fine," Sam insisted stubbornly. "I'm not going to let a screwed up Psychologist and her glowing lackey scare me into a corner, and I still want to be friends with you," I felt my heart skip a beat at that.

_What kind of girl is she…?_ I wondered. I never would've imagined a girl like this could exist…

"You honestly don't care that ghosts are going to try and attack you because of me?" I had to ask, just to get a straight answer for once if someone really could accept me in the aftermath of what I'd been through.

"Well, I am kinda mad that I can't protect myself from them," Sam said begrudgingly. "But no matter what Spectra says, I know you'll be there to help if things get out of hand, and I really appreciate that," I smiled, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

"Wow," I laughed. "I never thought any girl would be willing to stay in a ten foot radius of me once ghosts started attacking them for it," Sam blushed slightly at that.

"Well then," She said, "I guess I'll have to prove you wrong," I grinned at the challenge in her voice.

"You do that," I said, hesitantly preparing to fly off. "I'd better go…"

"Um, Phantom?" Sam's voice stopped me before I could head out, "I'm working tomorrow. I come in at five," It took me a second to realize she was inviting me to visit her at work.

"I'll try to swing by," I said, smiling. Feeling I needed to warn her, I added, "But you might wanna call your boss up first and make sure you weren't fired." With that out of the way I flew off.

_Weird… _I thought to myself as the wind played with my hair, _As much as I'm learning about her, I still can't figure her out at all…_

**X3**

**Thanks to:**

**Bleachbabe03, Engelmohr2004, minirowan, Dredoll, Anaharathon & Bookworm700!**


	8. Reality

"I'm telling you, Tuck, she's awesome!" I laughed into my cell phone. "I mean, she has got to be the coolest girl in the world!"

"Fascinating," Tucker said dryly. "But dude? You do realize that if you wanna date her, it'll have to be as one Danny or the other, not both,"

"Not if I tell her," I reminded Tucker. There was a loud crashing noise on the other end. "Tucker? Tuck? Are you okay? Tucker!"

"_**ARE YOU INSANE?"**_ Tucker screamed. I jumped, nearly dropping my cell phone as I pulled back away from it. _**"YOU JUST MET THE GIRL AND YOU WANT TO TELL HER YOUR DEEPEST DARKEST SECRET? SOMETHING YOUR PARENTS DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT? WHAT THE HECK IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?"**_

_Well, at least I know he's still alive… _I thought dryly to myself.

"I'm not planning on telling her tonight, Tuck," I told him in exasperation. "I'll let her get to know both sides of me first so she knows she doesn't have anything to be scared of, and then I'll tell her. What's the big deal? I mean, you were all over me to get a girlfriend not three days ago, and now that I have a girl I like you want me to just forget about her?"

"Yeah well, I wasn't expecting you to find someone you'd wanna get this serious with so fast…" Tucker muttered.

"You make it sound like I'm proposing or something," I laughed. "Lighten up, Tuck, It'll just be a couple of dates at first to test the waters, then if I think we have a chance of holding out, I'll tell her. I can trust her, Tucker, I know it!"

"Well I don't," Tucker said. I could almost see his frown. "We don't know anything about her, Danny! Do you know where she lives?"

"I never asked," I said, frowning. "I don't wanna sound like some creepy stalker,"

"Well, I think you should hold off the confession until after you've gotten to know all about her,"Tucker said firmly. "Her friends, her family… It'll be better off for both of you that way. Waiting means you can be sure you're making the right decision, and that you can pull out in time if you're not. I mean, what if her dad's an axe murderer or something?"

"Aren't you the one dating the ghost hunter?" I asked, my eyebrow kicking up.

"That's casual, okay!"Tucker said.

"Riiight…" I said dryly. "That's why you were sweating bullets trying to figure out what to wear when you asked her on a date."

"I'm on the verge of hanging up on you right now, you know," Tucker responded. I laughed, sensing his glare.

"Come on, Tuck," I said, smiling slightly. "I really like this girl, and I don't want to lie to her if I don't have to."

"That's just it, man," Tucker said, "You **DO** have to. Telling someone you're a ghost hybrid with a superhero alias isn't something you should lay on any girl, especially one you've only talked to three times."

"Technically one," I corrected Tucker. "Two times as Phantom, one as Fenton."

"You're gonna give me a headache trying to explain all this to me,"Tucker said dryly. "Only you can screw up your love life to this degree."

"Hey!" I responded. "It's not my fault my life's so complicated!"

"Yeah, yeah," I could almost hear Tucker's grin. "You can't blame everything on the ghosts, pal, you were weird even before they came along!"

"This coming from the guy whose greatest love is a handheld electronic device," I teased back.

"Hey now! Don't diss my baby!" Tucker exclaimed. "You'll hurt her feelings…"I rolled my eyes. And this guy was trying to call ME weird? I frowned when a loud noise bleeped in my ear, peeling the phone away to check the ID screen and flinching.

"I gotta go, Tuck," I told my best friend. "My sister's beeping in, and you know how she gets if I don't pick up after the first ring." Tucker laughed.

"Got it, dude," He chuckled. "Good like with Girl Sam! Speaking of which, you know that you've just made our lives that much more confusing by adding two people with the same name, right?"

"Good bye, Tucker," I growled, blushing slightly.

Like that was really something I could help!

"Danny here," I sighed as I disconnected my best friend.

"Danny? Are you okay?" Jazz asked worriedly, "Why aren't you at your dorm? Where's Sam?" I frowned in confusion.

"I'm fine," I said. "I'm just flying around a bit is all. And how should I know where Sam is if he isn't in the room? Actually, he could just be sleeping, you know. Why do you ask, anyways? I thought you didn't like him…"

"It's not that,"Jazz sighed. "It's just I wanted to make sure sh- _he_ saw safe. He, not she!"I blinked.

"Uh, you okay Jazz?" I asked warily.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jazz countered with a nervous laugh.

_That's a No-But-There's-No-Way-I'll-Ever-Tell-You-What's-Wrong,_ I translated dryly in my head.

"Anyways, you're usually back in your dorm by now if there aren't any ghosts giving you problems. Something you want to talk about?"

"No, Dr. Jazz," I sighed. "I'm just not tired is all."

"Really?" Jazz asked slyly. _"_Who is she?"

…_I've really gotta find out how she does that one of these days…_

"No one you know," I answered back. "A new girl working at Yin/Yang. She's a lot gutsier then any other girl I met,"

"Is she pretty?" Jazz asked, sounding happy.

"Yeah," I said, smiling as I thought of the Goth. "Smart, too. And really protective…"

"Sounds like the perfect girl for you, Danny!" Jazz laughed happily. "I'm glad you're finally over Paulina."

"Tucker thinks I should get to know her better before dragging her too much into my life, though," I said, sighing.

"Absolutely,"Jazz agreed firmly. "Tucker and I will cover for you the best we can while you two date, but if she can outlast your old girlfriends, you have my full support to take the relationship wherever you want, provided that you two keep it clean. I don't want any phone calls in the middle of the night about how I'm going to be the aunt of some new race of ghost hybrids before your seventeen."

"JAZZ!" I yelped, blushing. That's when my ghost sence went off. "Look, I gotta go. Ghost time."

"Gotcha," Jazz said happily. "Take it easy, Lover-Bo-!"

I hung up before she finished, growling slightly.

Shaking off my embarrassment, I flew down to take care of whoever it was this time. My irritation only grew when I saw the all-too-familiar and way-too-weak-for-his-own-good embarrassment to all ghost kind; The Box Ghost.

"You again?" I asked, annoyed that I'd have to take the time to beat him to a pulp yet again. I mean, sure it was good to have him around when I was stressed or really mad, but right now I had better things to worry about.

"Uh-oh," Box Ghost muttered when he saw me. He knew how this was gonna end already, now it was just a question on whether it was gonna be the easy way, or the hard way. "…BEWARE!" The ghost shouted, fleeing at his top speed.

…The hard way it was.

"Hey! Get back here!" I shouted after him, flying to chase him down.

_This is gonna be a long night…_

***

"You're sure you're going to be fine on your own?" Dr. Jeerings asked Sam again, worry making him hesitant to leave.

"I'll be fine, Dr. Jeerings," Sam smiled. "Any ghost tries anything and I'll kick his butt right back to his grave." Dr. Jeerings chuckled.

"I don't doubt that you would…" He said in dry humor. "But please call me if anything happens."

"Will do!" Sam said with a grin. He left, and as soon as He was out of sigh I allowed myself to turn visible, making Sam jump in surprise.

"Sorry," I said. "I though you were expecting me…"

"That's okay," Sam smiled back. "I'm gonna have to get used to that, but it's a cool trick. Bet it comes in handy."

"You have no idea," I laughed. "So, did you make it home alright last night?" Sam shrugged.

"Um, I got into a little bit of trouble for coming in so late," She admitted. "But it was nothing I couldn't live through. What about you? I mean, ghosts do need sleep, right?"

"Depends," I shrugged. "Some do, some don't."

"Do you?" Sam asked.

"Sleep? In this form?" I shook my head. "Couldn't if I tried." Hey, that was honest enough, right?

I relaxed as Sam and I got into a rhythm of questioning each other and poking fun at something the other said. I loved whenever I could get her to laugh, and delighted in the way she blushed whenever I smiled a certain way or complimented her.

I even liked whenever customers came in, because that meant I could go invisible and whisper stupid, silly songs and other random things into her ear to make her laugh. After the customers left, she'd yell at me and scold me, but I could tell she wasn't really mad.

But as they say, all good things must come to an end…

"Hey, do you know Danny Fenton?" Sam asked me out of the blue. I froze, feeling whatever color was left in my face as a ghost leave.

"Wh-What makes you think that?" I asked, trying to keep myself calm.

"It's just… you remind me of him a little," Sam shrugged and I couldn't help but blush that she remembered me that well from just one meeting.

_I've gotta be a little more careful around her, or she'll figure it out on her own, _I noted.

"You got that from meeting him once?" I asked. Sam frowned slightly.

"How did you know I only met him once?" Sam asked me, sounding a little confused.

_And that's not the way to do it, _I mentally sighed. Instead of answering her second question, I decided to give her the half truth for the first.

"Anyways, yeah. I know him. I know all the Fentons fairly well, since his parents used to hunt me a lot before they disappeared." I felt some of my good mood leave when I thought of my missing parents. Pulling myself out of it, something else clicked to me suddenly. "Wait a second, Fenton never told you his name. How did you know…?" Sam cringed at the question.

"Tell me how you knew I only talked to him once and never got his name and I'll tell you how I found out," She said defiantly. I flinched.

"Fair enough," I accepted. "Let's agree not to pry then…" Then, as casually as I could, I added, "…So, what do you think of Fenton?" I had to hide a smile at Sam's new blush.

"Well…" She said. "He's really cute and nice, even if he does keep secrets…" Okay this girl's way too sharp for her own good… "And he's really fun to be around…"

"Does that mean you like him?" I asked, trying to maintain the casual thing and probably failing.

"I dunno…" Sam replied airily, her face going even redder.

"What would you say if he asked you out?" I asked her. Suddenly, I was very happy I had my second form. It was a full-proof way to make sure this girl liked me before making an idiot of myself for her. Last thing I needed for my self-esteem was a repeat of the Paulina fiasco…

"You want me to be honest?" Sam asked, crossing her arms.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't," I rolled my eyes as Sam grinned evilly.

"We-ell…" She drawled playfully. "…I'd have to say that I'd ask him the time and place,"

…_Did she just…? _I felt my face heat up before I could stop it and resisted the urge to shout out happily. It was then that a noise outside made me look away from Sam and freeze.

Heading to the front door with a determined look on her face was my sister.

She hadn't seen me yet, but when she did there would be big trouble. She would be able to tell in an instant if I was invisible in the room, too. She knew all the signs just as well as Tuck, and the last thing I needed right now was for Jazz to get mad at me for 'abusing my powers and confusing some poor, innocent girl I barely knew,' or something like that.

"I gotta go," I said quickly, flying out the wall. I didn't want to leave Sam, but a few days was probably better then being banned from ever stepping foot in the shop again…

***

_So far, so good, _I thought happily as I sat on a bench, eating some ice cream I'd just bought. It had been a full fifteen minutes and Jazz still hadn't cornered me, which she could do at any second with the help of the Fenton Finder (Which my parents still think is broken,) So that meant she probably hadn't figured out the whole Fenton/Sam/Phantom thing yet…

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in!" I jumped slightly before turning as Liz plopped down on the bench next to me. "What's up, little man? It must be something serious to put that look on your face…"

"Don't call me that," I sighed automatically. "And it's nothing. I was just thinking a little."

"You say that like there's ever a time you think a lot," Groaning, I threw Liz a glare before turning back to my ice cream.

Liz had been Jazz's best friend since my sister was in the sixth grade, meaning I knew her since I was eight years old. She and Jazz hung out together so much, it was almost like having another sister.

Sometimes I even considered telling her about the Phantom thing, since I knew she had nothing against the ghost and was loyal enough to me and my sister not to say anything. There was only one thing that stopped me; Liz's 'Clothing Thing.'

At least, that was what Jazz called it. Liz had a rabid obsession with fashion design, and a lot of her stuff could be pretty out there, but in a kinda good way. She was constantly talking Jazz into wearing her designs, and was still working on trying to wear me down.

I knew she had a million and one sketches of outfits she wanted to see Phantom in ever since he first became a public figure, and I didn't want to think of what she would do with that kind of blackmail information. It would be the end for both Phantom and Fenton…

"Come on, little man, tell me what up already before your ice cream melts," Liz smiled. "That's Blue Moon there, kid, and anyone who wastes Blue Moon ice cream should be dragged out in the street and shot."

"You sound like your uncle," I said, grinning slightly.

"Coming from you that's a compliment," Liz grinned. "Now quit changing the subject and tell me what's wrong."

"It's just…" I sighed. "I met this girl…"

"_**YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"**_ I jumped at Liz's yell, falling off the bench and landing painfully on my butt. Looking around, I saw the high school girl had earned stares from pretty much everyone on the street.

_Kill me now…_ I thought, groaning.

"Well, it's about time!" Liz grinned. "This is a moment to celebrate, Danny Fenton! So, who's the lucky gal?"

"I know where you sleep, Liz," I glowed at my face heated up, glaring at the older girl.

"So?" Liz snorted. "I'd love to see you get past security."

"You'd be surprised…" I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," I sighed as I stood up, rolling my eyes when I noticed Liz looking sadly at my fallen ice cream. "Forget it, I'd better-"

"I don't think so," Liz said, snapping out of morning to grab my arm and yank me back onto the bench. "You're not going anywhere, little man, not till you start talking."

"Come on, Liz…" I groaned. "Can't we do this later?"

"Nope!" Liz replied happily. "Now, when's the first date gonna be?"

"Well…" I hesitated slightly. "…I was thinking of asking her to the Masquerade…"

"Perfect!" Liz squealed, grinning. "I'll make your costume!"

"But Liz-!" I protested.

"But nothing, Boy," Liz glared. "Don't think I haven't noticed the way you run from my clothes. You'll wear my costume, or you'll wear a cast, it's your option, buddy,"

"You're too stubborn…" I sighed.

"Kinda like someone else I know," A dry voice behind us interrupted. Liz and I froze before turning to face Jazz's accusing glare.

"Well, you two seem to have a lot to catch up on." Liz said, jumping up. "See ya!" And, before I could protest, Liz was gone.

Cringing, I turned back to face my sister. The look on her face alone told me she knew everything, and she wasn't happy…

"We need to talk," She said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me away to somewhere more private.

_Great…_ I though glumly, _No witnesses…_

**Ooooh yes! I meant to get this out on Friday, so sorry for the wait. Oh yes, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! X3**

**Thankyou to:**

**Bookworm700, bleachbabe03, Trinity Fenton-Phantom, HELOISExJIMMY, Stick Fight3, and havenlcs!!!!**


	9. Stand Up

"I don't get you, Danny," I heard Sam whisper next to me. "Where do you go all the time?" I smiled wryly at the question as all the places I'd been in the last week alone, Ghost Zone included, came to mind.

"Here and there," I said.

"No talking!" Mr. Barrens snapped at us, glaring accusingly. He wasn't what you'd call fond of me ever since the fight with Dash, so it was no big surprise he was going harder on me then his other inmates. Before he could say anything else, though, the door slid open and Nate walked in.

"Hey, Coach!" He grinned. "Guess I'm stuck in there for the day, too!"

"Take a seat, Dobson," Nate wasn't bothered by Barrens' cold shoulder, since they had a hate-hate relationship. Nate was constantly giving the coach a hard time, and he'd retaliate by basically killing him with extra laps and exercises.

"Whoa!" Nate's shout drew me out of my thoughts, and I blinked questioningly at his grin, which was directed at Sam. "You're not a face I expected to see here! What's your crime?"

"Breaking curfew," Sam responded. "You?"

"Redecorating the English department." Nate responded solemnly, an evil twinkle in his eyes. "And what did you do this time, Fenton?"

"Skipping class," I sighed. "Lancer did one of his random attendance check things and saw I'd had 17 unexplained absences and 25 tardies." Nate shook his head.

"You've gotta tell me your secret," He said, laughing. "How the heck do you get around those military hall monitors without them seeing you?" I grinned a little that that, deciding to answer him honestly.

"What can I say?" I said with a shrug. "Around here, I'm invisible." Haha, how true.

"Yeah, right!" Nate snickered. "What about your fight with Dash? Or the time you and Tucker hijacked that helicopter and crashed it into the old football stadium? I still don't know why Mr. Masters didn't press charges against your guardian for that…" Now why the heck did he have to bring THAT up!

"You did what?" Sam asked, his voice squeaking slightly in shock. "Any by Mr. Master, you don't mean the owner of Master Corps, do you?" I cringed at the question.

"That was an accident," I more or less lied through my teeth. "A ghost chased us inside there and Tucker's foot accidentally hit something."

"Still, you were lucky he didn't sue your butt straight into poverty," Nate chuckled.

"Luck didn't have anything to do with it…" I said dryly. Vlad hadn't wanted to make his guardianship of me and Jazz public at the time, and anyways it was his fault to begin with, trying to steal that suit from the Axion Labs. That was why he didn't want a big deal made about the accident.

"Anyways, did you hear the news? Masters is finally gonna announce his sole heir to Master Corps at a press conference on Thursday, and he's already hinting at who it is!" I felt my face pale at that, fear making my insides cold as ice.

"Hinting how?" I asked Nate, trying to keep from panicking. "What's he saying?"

"Just that he goes to this school," Nate shrugged. "Not that that tells us much, except that he's still a minor." I groaned. That might not have seemed like much to most people, but it was way too much for me. Some people in the area like Valerie already knew my parents used to be friends with Vlad, so it wouldn't be long until someone made the connection…

"He didn't say anything else?" I asked, just to be sure.

"No," Nate shook his head. "Nothing. Why?"

"Just wondering," I said quickly. Sam raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't say anything. He looked puzzled for a second before a look of dawning came over his face and he turned dangerously pale…

"Sam? You okay?" I asked in concern, watching my roommate jump at the question.

"Fine!" Sam said loudly, making Barrens scowl at us again. "Uh, fine. Just… thinking."

"About what?" Nate asked.

"Um… About… a-about…" Nate and I exchanged looks as Sam babbled nervously. What the heck was his problem…? "…About the Masquerade Ball!"

"Keep it quiet over there!" Barrens growled.

"I thought you weren't going?" I asked quietly. Sam was acting so _strange_…

"I'm not," He replied. "but you two are, right? Are your costumes done yet? Do you have dates?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with Bree Summers from Wendy," Nate said, grinning proudly "She's making my costume so it'll match up with hers."

"I'm not taking anyone," Danny said, trying to keep my voice casual. "And Liz is making my costume. She says it's a surprise," I rolled my eyes in exasperation before my thoughts turned back to why I was going to the dance alone…

"_Danny, you know you shouldn't be doing this!" Jazz said in exasperation._

"_What's the big deal?" I asked. "I mean, you already said that you didn't care if I started dating…"_

"_Yeah, but does it have to be her?" Jazz asked, cringing._

"_What's wrong with Sam?" I glared at my sister._

"_Nothing!" Jazz said quickly. "It's just… Don't you think your life is a little complicated for a girlfriend right now?"_

"_Okay, what's going on?" I asked, starting to get angry._

"_Nothing!" Jazz said in a defensive sort of way. "What makes you think…?"_

"_Damn it, Jazz, I'm not stupid!" I yelled at her, finally snapping. "I know you're hiding something from me and I want to know what!"_

"_Danny…" Jazz sighed, cringing. "You have to understand that I want to tell you, but other things make it impossible."_

"_What does all of this have to do with Sam?" I asked, raising an eyebrow._

"_Because it's her secret," Jazz told me. "Look, Danny, If you really like Sam, then I have no problem with you two getting together, but please, please just wait until I tell you that it's okay to see her,"_

"_What's the big deal?" I asked, frustrated._

"_Just trust me, okay?" Jazz said, frowning at me in worry. "I don't want you two to end up hurting each other, and if you rush into a relationship, I know both of you will get hurt."_

"_Why?" I asked. How the heck would Sam hurt me?_

"_Because it means you'll have to lie to her," Jazz glared. "Danny, Sam is very confused thanks to that Phantom/Fenton stunt you're pulling! When she finds out you two are the same person, she'll get angry with you for lying to her straight to her face like that! Not to mention how much danger you're putting her into with all the ghosts and everything."_

"_I can protect her!" I protested angrily._

"_Not all the time," Jazz reminded me. Then she sighed. "Danny, please don't be difficult about this." She pleaded. "I like Sam, I really do, but it just isn't the right time for you to get involved with her." I glared at my sister, and she sighed again, "Look, what are you gonna do if Vlad finds out how much you like her, huh?" Jazz asked. "You know that jerk wouldn't hesitate to use her against you if he thought it would be beneficial to him!"_

_I froze at that thought, the images of the horrible things Vlad could and would do to Sam if he found her flashing through my head…_

"_Fine," I muttered. "I won't ask Sam out," Jazz looked relieved._

"_Promise?" She begged me. "Promise me, Danny, swear you won't make a move until I tell you it's okay."_

"_Alright!" I groaned. "I promise, okay?"_

"_Thanks, Danny," Jazz said, hugging me affectionatel. "This makes things a lot easier on everyone."_

"_Yeah…" I said, unenthusiastically. Frowning a little, I turned away, trying to forget the fiery Goth…_

_No luck there,_ I thought dryly. The more I learned about Sam, the more I liked her. _Still, it's like Jazz said, it's for her own good…_Sighing, I took out some papers and my CD player, turning it on and flipping forward a few tracks to the song I was looking for before I settled into sketching to try and forget about the girl.

'_Why don't you let me be, leave me alone?_

_You start a fire inside that I could never control_

_You want to see a reaction? (See a Reaction?)'_

'_Come on and cut me down, I've gone as far as I'll go_

_Now you're crossing the line and I am letting you know_

_Well here's your reaction (Here's your reaction)'_

I smiled slightly as I let the music play, the lyrics really hitting home for me. After all, that was the kind of relationship I had with Vlad recently, wasn't it? He kept pushing at me, pressing my buttons, hoping that I'd get mad enough to someday throw away everything I care about and become just like him.

_Like I'd ever want that,_ I thought bitterly. He had money, yes, and almost everything most people dreamed about, but he didn't have what he really wanted, and he never would. There was no way I'd sell my soul to anybody, especially not someone like Vlad.

As much as I hated the man, I had to admit I was a little scared of him, too. He was the only enemy so far I haven't been able to overcome. I even managed to fight off an evil older version of myself and win, but no matter what I did here, Vlad was always three steps ahead of me, always laughing as I tried to keep up, taunting me, trying to get me to stop holding back the way I do when I don't want to hurt people…

'_Stand up I have had enough,'_

'_Walk away before I finish what you started_

_Face to face_

_I will put you in your place_

_End this game_

_Before I finish what you started_

_Face to face_

_Everything will change,'_

There were days I wanted to hurt Vlad. Hurt him badly. There were sometimes I just wanted to snap and hit everyone who was always kicking me when I was down, everyone I knew would treat me like a freak the second they found out that geeky Danny Fenton was a half ghost.

It wouldn't matter to them that I'd risked everything to save them, gave up so much of what I wanted to keep them alive. Sometimes, a part of me wondered why I bothered, but I always forced those thoughts back as soon as they came.

It was like my mom had told me when I was a kid, 'it's our compassion for other people that makes us human,' That meant so long as I didn't get selfish and abuse my powers, It didn't matter if I was half ghost or not, because if I kept a human attitude, I was still human.

'_You've planted this seed, how my anger has grown_

_I've got a feeling inside that I can't seem to control_

_You want to see a reaction? (See a reaction?)'_

'_Come on and cut me down, You've gone as far as I'll go_

_Now you're crossing the line and I am letting you know_

_Well here's your reaction (Here's your reaction)'_

Still, That didn't erase the hatred I had towards Vlad for trying to control me. What made him think he'd ever take my dad's place? Who was he to tell me that he could fulfill my every wish? I was never gonna buy any of that, I wasn't born yesterday.

The thought of ever accepting Vlad into my life like that horrified me, but no matter which way I turned, the older half ghost blocked my exit, keeping me and Jazz trapped in his twisted maze. I wasn't even really sure why he wanted me anymore. Was it just because of my powers? Or was there something else…?

_That doesn't matter,_ I told myself. _Vlad's not someone you could ever trust, no matter what his intentions are. He's insane, dangerous, and you can't take a chance of ending up like that, too…_

'_Stand up I have had enough,'_

'_Walk away before I finish what you started_

_Face to face_

_I will put you in your place_

_End this game_

_Before I finish what you started_

_Face to face_

_Everything will change,'_

After all, it was because of Vlad and the rest of my enemies that I couldn't have to life I wanted. I couldn't just hang out with my friends and spend afternoons doing nothing. Ever since the ghost portal activated, I can't even remember what it's like to be bored.

…Not including the times Tucker starts rambling about his PDA.

Because of all the ghost attacks, I have to lie to my roommate and stop seeing the girl I like. Why did this whole hero thing have to turn out so much harder then everyone made it sound…?

_Maybe because your not a hero,_ I told myself bitterly, _No one in this town or anywhere else will ever see you as a hero. Here, you'll always be a trouble-causing freak…_

'_Insult after insult_

_After insult after insult_

_After insult after insult_

_After insult after insult_

After insult after insult'

'_Stand up I have had enough,'_

'_Walk away before I finish what you started_

_Face to face_

_I will put you in your place_

_End this game_

_Before I finish what you started_

_Face to face_

_Everything will change,'_

Then again, I was a hero to the people who mattered most. Tucker and Jazz were always there to support me, to give me whatever help I needed, and Sam saw me as her hero. She even said something like that when we talked.

I couldn't understand how a girl like that could ever see anything on a loser like Danny Fenton, especially when you put both Dannys side by side. Most girls chose Phantom in a heartbeat, but Sam didn't. Everything she said confused me, but I desperately wanted to know everything about her, to tell her everything I was…

'_Walk away_

_Everything will Change_

_End this game_

_You wanna see a reaction?_

_You wanna see a reaction?'_

"What's that, Fenton?" Barrens sharp question made me jump as he tore my headphones away from my head. "No music! I'll confiscate these…" I started to protest, but Barrens ignored me, taking my CD player anyways. Then his eyes turned to my paper. "And how about you save daydreaming about your girlfriend for your own time, Fenton, this is punishment!"

I looked down at that, my face heating up when I saw the pictures I'd drawn while I was thinking, especially when Sam and Nate leaned over to see them, too.

_Wow, all of Jazz's subconscious babble is true…_I thought wryly, my eyes skimming over one of Sam's faces after another. I hadn't even realized I'd been drawing her until just now…

Forgetting her seemed to be the last thing my mind was capable of, but I had to if I wanted her to stay safe. I liked Sam way too much to let her stick her neck out for me, especially with dear old Uncle Vladdy waiting around the corner with an Axe…

_That's a scary mental image,_ I told myself in amusement.

"Nice," Nate said, drawing me away from the psycho, axe-wielding Vlad. "She's cute."

"It's just a girl I met recently." I muttered, not wanting to talk about Sam in front of anyone else when my relationship with her was still such a sensitive topic.

"Is she the one you can't stop thinking about?" Sam asked. My felt my face go even darker at that question, feeling suddenly like there was a spotlight on me…

"It's nothing, alright guys?" I sighed. "It'll be better off for her if we stop it before either of us gets too attached." Too late for that…

"Detention's over," Barrens grunted about twenty minutes later. "Fenton, get your CD player from me this evening, before lights out and don't lemme catch you with it again."

"Yes sir," I said, grabbing my stuff and making a beeline for the door. The sooner I was away from the guys and their questions, the better. I frowned slightly when I thought of Sam again. It wasn't fair that we couldn't even take a chance at dating just because of a bunch of stupid ghosts…

I sighed, then glared in front of me.

_One problem then the other,_ I told myself. _I can't do anything for me and Sam right now, so I'll try stop the Vlad problem before it gets out of hand…_

'_Stand up,'_

***

"Vlad Masters speaking," I scowled at the smooth voice of my guardian.

"What are you up to now?" I demanded harshly. I never saw a need to be nice to Vlad, not after everything he'd done.

"Ah, Daniel," Vlad said pleasantly_. _"I was hoping you'd call…"

"What's with the press conference, huh?" I asked. "What are you planning?"

"Just introducing my family to the public eye, Daniel," Vlad said. I could almost see his smirk. "You'll have to step up and take responsibility for my company someday, after all, and then you'll be in the public eye all the time."

"I've already said-!"

"Now now, Daniel, you may want to think carefully before you make any hasty decisions," Vlad responded. "After all, there are enough complexities in our condition that you can't even honestly say I'll leave you with the death of my human body," I scowled, knowing that Vlad had a point there.

"What can you gain by putting me in a spotlight?" I demanded.

"Right now?" Vlad chuckled, "More then you could ever know…" And, before I could ask any more questions, Vlad hung up on me. I scowled at the phone as the dial tone buzzed in my ear, trying to piece together Vlad's latest plot…

**Mkay, so after getting chap 8 done, I decided to get right onto working on chap 9! Yay! I don't have any one to thank, seeing as I posted chap 8 like and hour ago.**

**Peace!**


	10. Opera Ghost

I sighed to myself in exhaustion as I entered the dorm, frowning when I saw that the lights were off and the TV on, even though Sam was nowhere to be seen. He was never one to waste electricity… Shrugging to myself, I walked over to turn the News broadcast off, when a familiar face made me stop dead.

"_Tonight at his big Press Conference in Wisconsin, the multi-billionaire Vlad Masters announced that the young son of his former college roommate and best friend, Danny Fenton of Amity Park, will become the sole proprietor of all the resources own by Masters Corps. _

_Despite the fact that he is only fourteen, Mr. Masters assures the public that his company is safe in the hands of the boy, who he_ _is in the process of adopting now that his parents have been missing for almost a year."_

I gritted my teeth, glaring down at Vlad's smiling face.

_So, he went through with it…_ I thought sourly, my fists clenching in the urge to hit something.

"Congratulations, Ghost-child," I heard a voice say behind me. "You're getting everything a boy your age could ask for,"

Forgoing the battle call, I went ghost and turned to glare at the man standing behind me in the high-tech battle suit.

"Not me," I growled at him viciously. "I never asked for any of this!" Skulker's smirk widened.

"Oh?" He said mockingly. "More money then you could ever use, powers beyond your wildest dreams, fame and acknowledgement where ever you go? You never wanted any of these?" I glared.

"No, I didn't," I snapped.

_And I'd give it all up for things to go back to normal, _I added in my head. I wanted things the way the should've been. My family all happy and safe under one roof, Tucker and me only having normal things like cheat codes and homework to worry about, seeing Sam wherever I wanted without worrying about putting her at risk…

"Well then," Skulker said, "You won't mind if I take these from you," He pointed the barrel of his gun at me. "Along with your life!"

Instincts guiding me, I flew into the air to avoid the blasts of energy Skulker was shooting at me recklessly, not caring what else he destroyed in the process. He caught up with my pretty quickly, though, hitting me with a punch that had me seeing stars as it sent me flying into Sam's room to find him curled up on his bed, fast asleep.

I tensed at my loud landing, looking over to see if Sam stirred while Skulker came into the room.

"Calm yourself, Ghost child," the ghost hunter said. "He's been breathing in a powerful sedative for the last half hour. It knocks a human out cold without affecting ghosts."

I scowled at Skulker, and after one last glance at Sam I decided to take the fight somewhere else. Turning intangible, I shot through the walls of the dorm to the outside.

Without missing a beat, Skulker followed, still attacking me the whole way. Gritting my teeth, I evaded his attacks until I could finally turn and blast him. Instead of taking the hit, though, Skulker hit a button on his suit and was surrounded by a mini ghost shield, which ricocheted my attack back towards me so I had to dodge it.

"That's new…" I muttered to myself. Apparently Skulker heard me, though, since his grin widened.

"So's this!" He yelled, hitting another button on his wrist. Before I could react, I was surrounded with a glowing pink energy field. Hitting another button, Skulker made it so that thin, razor sharp laser beams shot out of the wall, which made painful, stinging cuts whenever I touched them. "Been waiting a long time for this, ghost-child…" my foe said as he flew closer in his moment or triumph. "Once your skull is merely decoration for my mantel piece, both worlds shall quake at the name Skulker!" His words didn't connect at first, but when they did…

"Quake, Huh?" I panted, not giving myself time to think about my next move. "Sounds like a plan!" And without any more warning, I let loose a Ghostly Wail.

The earth around us trembled as Skulker's energy cage shattered, and the ghost himself went flying in the force of the attack. Grabbing my thermos, I sucked him up and flew back into my dorm, which was as far as I made it before collapsing to the floor.

***

"DANNY!"

I groaned at the familiar voice, peeling my eyes open to meet worried amethyst gems. Not thinking, I immediately connected them with the girl who'd been on my mind for the last few days.

"Sam?" I called out.

"What the hell happened?" Sam asked me. My vision cleared and I saw it wasn't Sam but… well… Sam.

_I've gotta come up with some kind of system for that…_ I thought vacantly.

"Oh!" I grimaced. "Sorry. I thought you were Sam." As I closed my eyes again, a part of me realized this wouldn't make any sense to the kid, but I was too beat up to care. Damn, what WERE those lasers Skulker hit me with…?

"Can you get up?" Sam asked me.

"Yeah," I said, trying to prove it. Shooting pains brought me down again before I got up more then a foot off the ground.

_Ow! _I thought, screaming curses in my head as my vision went black for a second.

"…Just gimme a second. I'm fine," I was too proud to admit I was stuck, even though Sam could probably tell on his own.

"Hang on, Danny," I heard him say as I started to get over my dizzy spell. "I'll call the infirmary and we'll-!" My heart froze at the word 'infirmary.'

"_If you get sick at school they'll send you straight to the Infirmary and you'll be exposed!"_

"NO!" I yelled, grabbing Sam before he had the chance to get away. "No infirmary! No doctors!"

_It's bad enough people know I'm Vlad's heir, _I told myself bitterly, _I don't know what I'll do if they find out about the Phantom thing now too!_

"What are you talking about, Danny?" Sam asked, glaring at me. "You're a mess! Look, I'm calling a doctor right now! You need one, in case you haven't noticed," Sam tried to pull away, but I refused to let him go.

"Call Jazz," I told him, trying to keep my tone from becoming too pleading. "She'll know what to do," Sam sighed irritably as he rolled his eyes.

"Danny, I don't think-!"

"Please," I said, too tired to hold off how helpless I felt anymore. My strength was fading fast… "Please Sam, if you're gonna call someone, please let it be Jazz," Sam studied me for a moment, his face softening into a gentle expression that seemed a little familiar…

"Fine," he sighed. "But you seriously owe me!" I relaxed, relief flooding through me as I laid back down, my eyes focused on a spot on the ceiling Skulker had scorched in our fight.

_The ghosts are getting braver,_ I thought bitterly as Sam left to make the phone call._ Before none of them would attack like this. They're getting stronger, too, to leave me in this condition. Either that or I'm getting weaker._ I sighed mentally, closing my eyes.

But how could I be? I was fighting every day now, powerful opponents that could seriously hurt people. I won against all of them, even if the victory was close. So why did I feel like things were only getting harder for me?

_Maybe I'm just being overworked,_ I thought. That was probably the most optimistic way to think about things. After all, we don't know exactly what the Fenton Portal did to me. I could be dying and not even know it…

I pushed that thought away as soon as it came.

_No way, _I said firmly to myself_. I can't be dying! After all, Vlad's still fit, and he was hit with the high charge of ectoplasm twenty years ago._ I relaxed a little at that thought. After all, there hadn't been anything to differentiate my powers from Vlad's before, why would that change now?

Something else was the problem, but I had no idea what. And honestly, I didn't want to think anymore. I was tired of being a superhero, tired of having to hide things from people I wanted to be closer to, and just plain tired.

All I wanted to do was close my eyes and go to sleep. Maybe if I did, I'd wake up and find myself back in bed in FentonWorks, and find out that the Phantom thing had all been one long, painful dream…

_But it's not,_ I reminded myself, _None of it's a dream. And ignoring who I am now won't make anything go away, and I could never turn my back on people who were in danger._ I smiled wryly to myself. _Face it, Fenton, your life now belongs to Danny Phantom…_I brought myself out of my thoughts when I felt someone stop next to me, looking up to see Sam had returned from his phone call.

"Is Jazz coming?" I asked. If she couldn't make it, I was probably toast. I'd been doing this long enough to be able to tell serious injuries from minor ones…

"Yeah," Sam answered as he tried to lift me. His smaller frame couldn't support me, though, not with all the body-building I'd done thanks to my side job. Whop knew ghost hunting was such a great career for the fit…? "She's on her way. Come on, you need to get into your bed."

"Right." I said, lifting myself off the ground to give the smaller boy a break. I cringed at the pain that was shooting through me again

Ignoring it the best I could, I started towards my room, half supported by Sam. The black spots at the corner of my vision were closing in on me again, and I was fighting the urge to outright collapse on the floor.

_Jazz is absolutely gonna kill me for nearly killing myself, _I thought absently. I sighed mentally. Ah, well, at least I'd obeyed her as far as the Sam thing went. As much as I wanted to head back over to Yin/Yang and talk to her again, I'd avoided it to keep her out of harm's way.

Sam was tough, but there was no way she could last against a ghost like Skulker or Walker, and it Vlad ever found out about her…

The thought alone sent fearful chills down my spine. Vlad wasn't above using the ones a person loved to get back at his enemies. I knew that, and he knew I knew that. So why put the noose around my own neck then, especially if it meant throwing one around Sam too? I wasn't gonna be that selfish, no way.

I barely noticed when we reached my room, except for Sam's startled gasp. I cringed, just then remembering that I'd forgotten to clean away the ghost hunting stuff. Oops… hey, did the floor always move like that? It was kind of like the rocking of a boat. Back and forward… back and forward…

_Skulker's made my list now, too,_ I thought bitterly, _If he used some kind of freaky ghost drug to kill me…_

"Hang on, Danny," I heard faintly heard Sam say as we started to move again. That wasn't helping my head, by the way. Or my stomach for that matter.

_Guess it's a good thing I forgot to eat last night after all, _I thought vaguely to myself. Realizing I was suddenly in my bed, I buried my face into my pillow, happy to be somewhere that I could rest. Especially since I suddenly felt so cold…

"I'll be right back. I just need to call the office and tell them we can't come to class today."

I didn't catch that he said 'we' instead of you until he was gone, and I was to weak to protest by then anyways. All I want to… do… was… s l e e p…

***

I'm not sure how long I slept, but when I next woke up I found myself headache-free, with no more stinging cuts or dizziness. I was warm now, too, which was definitely a nice plus. Still felt sore and tired, though…

"Jazz?" I called out, knowing on hunch alone that my sister was still in the room. I was still too tired to sit up and see for myself, but I didn't need to after all. Jazz appeared like magic seconds later, frowning down at me in worry.

"Don't move around too much," she advised me. "I don't want to even think of re-stitching that cut on your side. Just rest for now, the poison's almost out of your system, but I don't want to take any chances of it becoming overpowering again, especially with how potent it is…"

"Poison?" I repeated blearily as I relaxed and did as my sister ordered.

"It's that rare, powerful toxin that was made in the Ghost Zone," Jazz sighed. "You remember, you're the one who told me about it. Ghostbane or whatever…" I groaned in remembrance of one of the few poisons in the world deadly to even ghosts, cursing Skulker yet again. "Don't worry, I got it out of you before any difficulties developed."

"So I'm just bedridden for the night," I sighed.

"Looks like it," Jazz said, seeming almost happy with this fact. I guess she was really worried that I was going to hurt myself to be so cheerful about me being forced to take a break… "Don't worry, Tucker and I will handle any problems that come up."

"But it's my responsibility," I argued. "You should get back to school, Jazz, you're already missing class because of me."

"I think this will constitute as a family emergency, Danny," Jazz said dryly before she sighed, and continued, "Don't worry, okay? Tucker and I know we're human and that we have limits, okay? We'll just stick with ecto-guns and the thermoses. Speaking of which…" I looked up and saw that Jazz was holding the thermos that I'd caught Skulker in, shaking it to hear the rattling in the inside. "Is this the one that beat you up so bad?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "Skulker. He popped up outta nowhere last night after I was already tired from dealing with Ember again."

"Yeah, I saw that she got out late last night," Jazz said, frowning over at my laptop with was sitting on my dresser, Ember's pictures on her profile page scowling back at me.

The icon in the corner that Tucker and I had rigged to the Ghost Portal earlier this week so we knew when a ghost got out and who it was before my ghost sense even had to go off showed that she was still in the Ghost Zone. I frowned in annoyance at my older sister.

"Didn't we talk about you touching my stuff before, Jazz?" I asked irritably.

"It wasn't me!" Jazz said defensively. "Talk to Sam! She's the one who was playing around with it." I was too tired to point out to Jazz that she'd made a mistake about my roommate's gender.

"Did he say anything?" I asked. "He didn't find anything vital, did he?" I paused thoughtfully for a moment, then said, "Hey, how did he get my password anyways?"

"It's Paulina Fenton," Jazz said dryly. "You haven't changed it since you were in middle school," I blushed.

"I never had time," I muttered, shifting around slightly before I remembered Jazz's warning and stilled. "Does he suspect anything?"

"I don't think so," Jazz sighed. "And if he does, leave it to me. You're too weak to be playing secret-keeper, ghost-boy. I'll fill you in on what Sam thinks later so our stories sync up."

"Got it," I sighed, a little relieved. I was starting to get tired again anyways; I didn't want to have to lie to anybody.

"Oh, and Danny?" Jazz said, smiling down at me and taking one of my hands. "I'm really proud of you. You know that, right?" I smiled as Jazz squeezed me hand. She did this every time I got injured really badly, and I knew it was a way of reassuring herself I'd always be okay as much as it was something I needed to hear.

"I know," I answered. "And I'm really glad you're here to take care of me, Jazz." I didn't know what Jazz had given me to counteract the poison, but I now wondered if it was worth it. I just knew that the fact I'd said that was going to embarrass me to death after all the side effects wore off…

…but looking at Jazz's face afterwards made me decide it was worth it after all.

"Hey, everyone needs someone to look out for them, Danny," Jazz said, wiping at her happy tears as if to hide them from me. "Even superheroes." I smiled wryly.

"Sam keeps comparing me to superman," I confided to her. "Because I heal so fast." A little bit of Jazz's smile faded for some reason before it was replace with a gentle, knowing look.

"I don't think that's the only reason, Danny," She told me. Standing up, she kissed me on the forehead. "Get some sleep, Danny. You need to rest now, and I need to do a little damage control."

"Right," I sighed, my eyes getting heavy. I didn't even have the strength to complain about the show of affection. "Night, Jazz…"

"Night, Danny," Jazz replied softly as the world faded out again…

***

"You know, I could think of a million and one doctors who would kill to know you're secret, Danny," Sam teased me lightly. "What superpowers let you heal from life threatening injuries in one night?" I laughed nervously. I knew that Sam didn't know about my powers, but talking about things like this always made me uncomfortable.

"Come on, Sam," I told him, "There's nothing special about me."

_At least nothing I can tell you about…_

"Anyways, are you sure you don't want to come?" I asked him again as I slipped on my shoes.

"Couldn't even if I wanted to," Sam chirped…almost happily. "Lancer banned me."

"You sound choked up about that," I said in a droll tone, rolling my eyes.

"What can I say, I hide my grief well," I laughed at Sam's response, glancing at the clock.

"Anyways, I'd better go. Knowing Liz, it'll take me half an hour to get dressed." I made a face and suppressed a shudder at the thought of the dreaded costume Liz would no doubt stick me in, and Sam laughed at the look.

"Have fun," He called as I left, shutting the door behind me. I hesitated when there was a commotion behind the door for a few seconds, debating on whether or not to turn back before I shrugged it off and went ghost, going intangible and flying towards Wendy.

I enjoyed the feel of the night wind against my face, taking my time and flying at a leisurely pace, even swooping and soaring every once in a while like I'd often seen Spook do, happy to get a moment's peace.

I was supposed to meet up with Tucker and Valerie at the dance. Jazz was apparently going stag with Liz and me, despite the fact she'd gotten a ton of dance offers from guys at my school. She had mentioned that she'd invited another guy along so I didn't feel awkward sitting among girls, but she told me in just a casual tone that I couldn't help but get a little suspicious. Jazz was never casual unless havoc was about to break loose.

I sighed and shook these thoughts away, going invisible instinctively as I neared Wendy. I'd managed to avoid Paulina's date requests so far, and I didn't want to take any chances now that I was almost home free. It wasn't that I had a problem with her, it was just that going to a dance as Phantom would get a little awkward…

Besides, I didn't want to lead her on or anything. That was just mean…

I flew through wall after all without flinching, navigating my way through the nearly empty Wendy corridors to Liz's room in the Green Dorm.

Turning human again outside her door, I knocked three times and waited for a response.

"DANNY!" Yelping in surprise, I barely stopped myself from going intangible instinctively as Liz pulled me into the room, slamming the door behind me.

Jazz and Liz both stood there, fully dressed and very excited. Liz was wearing a slim white dress with a skirt that had a slit going up the left side and a thin metal black belt that had a star and moon pattern. The right side was sleeveless and the left had a thin strand of white cloth that was held together with a black gem

A choker was made of the same thin black metal as her belt was around her neck, looking like a modern version of an Egyptian necklace. A white glove with black hemming came up to her right bicep, and her eyes and nose were covered with a feathery, decorative mask.

Jazz's dress was a sea foam green, and glittery all the way down. It tied at the back of the throat, which you could see now that her hair was gathered into a curly ponytail at the top of her head, with a sparkly dragonfly clip added to the tie. Instead of a regular mask, my sister wore a gypsy mask across her mouth and nose, made of a flimsy see-through material trimmed in silver.

White elbow gloves were on her hands, with a silver bracelet clasped to one wrist. A blue sash tied loosely around her waist, with silvery tassels at the end. Glittery mask up had been applied around her eyes, drawing attention to them and giving her a mysterious glowing look.

I had to admit, they both looked really pretty… for Jazz and Liz, anyways.

"It's about time you got here!" Liz said, pulling me into a room, "I've got your costume set up on the bed. Not I'm gonna lock the door and refuse to left to you out until you're dressed."

"Uh," I said, surprised. Before I could say anything else, Liz shut the door on my face. Puzzled, I turned to the bed to see my costume and my eyes widened in horror. "LIZ!"

***

"I can't believe you two convinced me to dress up like this." I growled, glaring at my sister and her best friend.

"You look fine, Danny," Jazz assured me. "Anyways, I told you before that the design was all Liz's idea."

"Uh-huh," I said sarcastically, "And it has absolutely nothing to do with your play," Jazz blushed slightly and gave me an innocent look, which I met with a glare. My sister sighed.

"Come on, Danny," Liz grinned. "You'd make an awesome Phantom!"

_There's an irony here somewhere, but I'm too embarrassed right now to point it out,_ I thought sullenly, crossing my arms and trying to ignore all the stares I was getting as we entered the Ballroom.

"Hey guys!" Tucker called out to us, waving from where he sat with Valerie. "Over here!"

"Quit griping and come on," Liz said, hauling me over to the table. "We came here to have fun, remember?"

"Hey guys," Valerie grinned at us. She faltered when she saw me, her green eyes widening. "Whoa, Fenton!"

"She did it," I growled, pointing an accusing finger at Liz as I sat down. The brunette just smirked back.

"Damn straight I did," She said proudly. "Ain't I a genius?" Tucker laughed into a napkin as Valerie shook her head.

"Come on, Tuck," The ghost hunter teased. "At least she can make a costume instead of buying it at a cheesy costume store."

"Hey!" Tucker said, feigning offence. "I paid good money for this outfit!"

"That's what scares me," Valerie said, shooting me a knowing smirk. I laughed as my best friend sulked to himself.

"Oh, sure!" He pouted to me. "Take her side!"

"Hey, Fenton," Valerie said, her eyes scanning around behind me. "If there any reason half the girls in this room are eyeing you like a cheesecake during a crash diet?" Confused, I turned to see what she was talking about.

My face heated up when I saw there actually were quite a few girls watching me, giggling, grinning knowingly and whispering to their friends. I felt my face heat up even more as I turned back to answer the question.

"Probably that thing with Vlad," I admitted, lowering myself a little more into my chair in hopes of avoiding the attention. No such luck, I could still feel holes being burned in the back of me head from their stares…

"Huh?" Valerie said.

"You didn't hear?" Tucker asked, sounding a little surprised, "Danny's officially Vlad's heir." I glared at my friend darkly and he grinned back sheepishly.

"Really?" Valerie said, sounding faintly surprised, "Congratulations," I didn't respond.

I knew Valerie got her weapons from Vlad, and I knew she knew it, too. I still had no idea how Vlad knew that Valerie would want revenge on ghosts, or how he got all the proper weapons to her so quickly after the accident since it usually takes a while to produce equipment of the quality Valerie used. Especially the costume she wore during the hunts…

"I'm going to get some punch," I said abruptly, standing up. I wasn't thirsty, but I did need an excuse to get away and walk around a bit to cool my head.

"Sure you don't need a bodyguard?" Valerie teased. I glared at her.

"Relax," Liz said, waving a hand carelessly. "They won't try anything. Trust me on that." I wondered for a second what Liz did to keep them at bay, but decided I could sleep better if I didn't know.

I made my way through the crowd and over to the punch bowl absently, just in case Liz or someone else was watching me. Last thing I wanted was for Liz to get mad at me for lying to her…

I yelped in surprise when a hand shot out of nowhere, grabbing me and hauling me into someone else's conversation.

"Then again, you already know him…" I blinked up at Mr. Marchez inn confusion and alarm, then turned to Mr. Lancer, the one Mr. Marchez was talking to, before I turned my attention to…

_No way…_ I thought, my eyes widening.

Standing in front of me was Sam, looking more beautiful then I'd ever seen her in an amazing glittery blue dress with a dark violet second layer over the blue skirt. Three gems were sewn to the front with black cords that trailed up to her waist. The top was off the shoulders, with a black wrap clasped together by an amulet the same lilac as the gems in the front of her dress. The front of the top had a lighter blue color with the same black cords as before crisscrossing in front of it.

See-through black and violet butterfly winds floated gracefully behind her, and black fingerless elbow length gloves with silver bracelets clasped around each wrist decorated her arms. A velvet black choker with dangling sapphires was clasped at her throat, and lilac bands tied some of her hair up out if her.

Her mask looked like a blue and black butterfly with the same lilac gems on the feelers and wings. Her eyes were shadowed with a darker shade of violet, and her lips were painted a deep shade of blue.

"Danny?" Mr. Lancer said, surprised. "You know this girl?" Confused, I looked between the three of them again before it finally hit me that Sam was trying to get in and Mr. Lancer was playing bouncer.

"Ah, yeah!" I said, turning to smile at the girl in front of em and ignoring the pounding of my heart in my ears and the questions running through my head. "Glad you could make it, Sam. I was starting to worry you wouldn't show."

"Well, I did say I was gonna be a little late," Sam said, smiling back much more convincingly.

"See, Lancer?" Mr. Marchez said, pushing me towards Sam. "Now that that's taken care of, why don't you two go enjoy yourselves?" Before I could say anything, Sam grabbed my arm and pulled me away until we were away from the crowd.

"What are you doing here?" I asked the first question that made it to my mouth in all my confusion. This girl had managed to surprise me more in the last week then most ghosts did in the last few years.

"Looking for you," Sam replied. I blushed.

"M-Me?" I repeated, trying to lean against a nearby table casually. My eyes widened when my hand accidentally went through the table and I ending up on the ground.

_Oh, smooth, Fenton,_ A voice in the back of my head growled.

"Danny!" Sam gasped, leaning down to touch my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," I told her, standing up and trying to shake off the strange feeling of Déjà vu…

"Weird," Sam said, frowning at the table. "It was almost like your hand fell right through…" I felt my face burn at that and forced out a fake laugh.

"What?" I squeaked out nervously. "What are you talking about? People's hands don't go through tables!"

"Hence why it was weird," Sam repeated dryly. "You sure you're okay?"

"I…" I sighed. "No, I'm not. I wasn't expecting to see you tonight."

"So you have been avoiding me," Sam accused me, glaring.

"It's not what you think, Sam!" I said quickly. "I just… well something came up and…"

"You mean the press conference?" Sam interpreted. "Danny, stupid things like money and who knows who doesn't matter to me,"

"It doesn't?" I asked, a little hopeful. If that stuff didn't bother her, then maybe…

"No, it doesn't," Sam smiled at me. "Look, I understand why you don't what to let anybody too close, Danny, but I really like talking to you, and I kinda hoped you liked talking to me too, so…" Sam trailed off and I couldn't help but smile as I took one of her hands.

"I do," I said, pulling her to the table Tucker and Valerie had claimed. "Come on, there are some people I want you to meet." Sam smiled and followed me as I led her to my friends. I noticed Jazz was on the dance floor and sighed in relief, glad that I could put off her yelling at me. There was no way she wouldn't think I'd asked Sam to come…

"Guys," I said as soon as we stopped at the table. "This is Sam, the girl I was telling you around. Sam, these are my friends; Tucker, Valerie and Liz,"

"Hello," Sam said with a small smile, studying them. When she finished, I smiled ruefully at her.

"Blame Liz for the outfit, by the way." I told her, motioning to my clothes. I heard Tucker start to snicker, and saw Liz stick her tongue out at me, but my attention was on Sam's face.

"Really?" She asked in surprise, studying me, then she turned to Liz. "You're a genius." I felt my face start to burn red at Liz laughed, a true sucker for compliments, especially ones like that.

"Oh, I like her!" She announced with a grin. Valerie start to laugh too as my face got even darker.

"Careful, Fenton," She teased, "That could become permanent, you know,"

"Shut up," I muttered back, pulling out Sam's chair. Sam sat down, smiling at me and I felt some of my nervousness and embarrassment recede as I smiled back.

"So Sam," Liz said. "Where are you from?"

"I go to Stretch Academy." Sam told her. "My parents live in Shanglinton,"

"Hey, Matt's family lives there!" Liz said, happy to turn the conversation to her crush (no matter how she tried to deny it). "Do you know that Mansons?" I frowned in confusion when Sam flinched slightly.

"Vaguely," Sam answered before standing up. "Can you excuse me? I have to go to the bathroom…"

"Right next to the entryway," Liz said, pointing through the crowd. "Want me to show you the way?"

"Nah, I'll be fine on my own," Sam told her walking away. As soon as she was gone, Liz turned to me.

"Keep her," She advised me. "I'm gonna start planning your wedding outfits when I get back to the Dorms.

"LIZ!" I growled, blushing slightly. Tucker and Valerie laughed.

"Well, she's okay, I guess," Tucker told me with a slight smile, "Just don't expect me to cover for you if you try to sneak her up to your dorm."

"That was you who tried that, Tuck," I reminded my friend dryly.

"I think I could definitely tolerate her at the least," Valerie said with a sly grin, nodding to something behind me. Turning, I saw Sam nail Dash soundly in the face, sending him toppling into a punch bowl.

"Hands off, creep," She snapped at him before continuing toward the bathroom.

"I repeat; Keep her," I shook my head as I turned back to the conversation.

_Sheesh…_

**Whew!**

**Mkay, first off, I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE READING!!!! *points accusingly at the traffic button* PLEASE REVIEW!!!  
**

**Alright, now that that is outta the way….thank you to:**

**Minirowan, Pyrongirl and Ghost Kitten! **

**Till next time!**


	11. Conflict

"So that's the girl Tucker was talking about, huh?" Valerie asked, sounding amused.

"Oh?" I gave my best friend a pointed look. "What's he been saying?"

"As far as I can tell, nothing that isn't true," Valerie responded with a grin. "Though you really should've told us you were gonna bring her. I was on the verge of hooking you up with a girl in my Economics class who's your type."

"I have a type?" I asked, genuinely confused. Valerie rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean," She said.

"Actually, I don't," I said with a little tilt of my head, but just barely. "Hence the question." Valerie shook her head and sighed.

"Men really are hopeless, aren't they?" She asked Liz dryly.

"Hey!" Tucker and I said together, offended.

"You're only just figuring that out, sweetie?" Liz countered with a grin.

"HEY!"

"Never mind, Danny," Valerie said, shaking her head in amusement. "Anyways, did you hear about the new scholarship kids that are coming in?"

"What about them?" I asked absently.

"Yeah," Tucker said. "I mean, it's not like They're anything new. Scholarship kids come all the time."

"Yeah, but we've got a new scholarship kid coming that I know you're gonna flip about," Valerie said with a knowing grin.

"Who?" Tucker asked, bewildered.

"Oh, you know…" Valerie said casually. "Just a girl by the name of Tina Foley."

"…WHAT?" Tucker yelped, "You can't be serious?"

"Dead serious," Valerie grinned slyly. "I saw her name on the list of incoming students. She's coming in next Monday."

"Oh, no…" Tucker moaned. "No, no, no… this is NOT good…"

"What's so bad about your cousin, Tuck?" I asked, amused. "She seemed okay to me last time I saw her." Of course, that was back in the fifth grade…

"Well that's because you're not related to her," Tucker sulked. "And knowing Tina, her whole group's coming down with her!"

"Whole group?" Valerie repeated.

"Yeah, all her friends," Tucker sighed. "Well, except the one that ran away… Still, that means that Megan girl is coming…" Tucker gave me a humorless smile. "You'll like her, Danny,"

"What makes you say that?" I asked mildly.

"Because she's exactly the type of girl you hate," Tucker said. "Meaning thanks to Vlad, she'll be all over you," I froze and groaned slightly.

"What kind of girl is she?" Liz asked, her eyebrow kicking up.

"Gold digger," Tucker said casually. "She goes through guys like tissue, too, and it's one rich boyfriend after another with her."

"Nice," Liz commented, making a face. Then she grinned at me, making my stomach drop. "What me to-?"

"No," I said firmly, glaring at her.

"Oh, come on, Danny!" Liz said with a pout, "It'll give you a moment's peace!" Yeah, at the cost of my conscience….

"No way, Liz," I repeated. "I'm not gonna let you scare her off. I know you too well to let you do that to someone,"

"You're no fun," Liz said, sulking slightly. Then she smirked knowingly. "Unless you want Sam to be the one to scare them off…" I blushed.

_Time to change the subject. _I thought hastily, taking the first thing that came to mind.

"How's the play going, Liz?"

"Pretty bad," Liz admitted with a frown. "After that ghost attack during the last rehearsals, we had to postpone the next try outs for the cast until next Thursday. We've only got a few people cast right now," With a grin, she added, "Paulina's Carlotta, by the way,"

"That's appropriate," Valerie snorted. Tucker and I exchanged grins.

Up until her father's accident in the Axion Labs, Paulina and Valerie had been best friends. Or at least, they associated with each other enough that others considered them to be close. But when Valerie found herself penniless, Paulina was one of the first to drop her, scorning the girl who'd fallen from the height of popularity to the lowest of the low.

Naturally, Valerie didn't take too kindly to this and made it obvious every chance she got. She'd gone from mocking girls who didn't have what it took to make the cut to defending them for the sole purpose of bickering with Paulina. Their biggest fights however, all seemed to center around one person; Me.

…Or at least, Phantom.

Valerie and Paulina were polar opposites when it came to which side they were on when my motives were questioned. It was kind of ironic that a girl I considered my friend hated my guts while a girl who laughed at and scoffed me as a loser worshiped the ground I walked on.

…Well, floated above anyway, it you wanna get technical.

"We still don't have anyone playing Raoul, Erik or Christine," Liz said casually, her eyes fixed on me.

"No," I said, glaring back. "I've told you and Jazz a million times, Liz, I'm not being Phantom,"

"Aw, come on, Danny!" Liz exclaimed. "You're the only guy in Casper fit for the roll!"

"I said no," I repeated.

"I'll go back to Vlad's with you for Thanksgiving if you do," Liz offered. I blinked.

"Really?" I asked, my eyebrow raising. Liz hated Vlad as much as her Uncle did, after all, but she knew Jazz and I could use the back-up, even if she didn't completely know what was going on. Still, at the very least it would force Vlad to halt any of his projects and listen to Liz's ranting and raving. "…I'll think about it," I said.

"Great," Liz chirped. "Guess that means we'll see you at rehearsals this Thursday." I shook my head.

_What have I gotten myself into…?_ Mentally sighing, I stood up.

"I'm gonna see what's taking Sam so long," I explained. "Be back afterwards, okay?"

"Take your time, lover boy," Liz teased. I make a face at her, earning a laugh as I walked away from the table.

It didn't take me long to find Sam, who was very eye-catching even from where she stood in the shadows. The thing that confused me, thought, was the fact that she was talking to Matt, Liz's fiercely denied crush and Jazz's friend.

At least, I was confused until a couple moved away and I saw he was standing with my sister, who was giving Sam her _'I-can't-believe-you're-doing-this,'_ look (I'd seen it enough times to know it even at a distance.)

…_Uh-oh…_

"Uh, are you guys alright?" I asked as I looked between my sister and my date. Sam relaxed, relief flashing in her eyes as she grabbed my hand.

"Yes," she told me. "Everything's fine. Let's go." And before I could say anything else, Sam dragged me away. I was so surprised, I only just caught what Matt and Jazz were saying to each other.

"You want to give me all the details already?" Matt demanded. My sister sighed

"You might want to sit down." She said dryly. "It's a long story…"

_Oookaay… _ I thought as we left them to their story. What the heck were they talking about…?

***

I barely felt the cooler air outside as we left the crowd behind. Hot and cold didn't bother me like it used to ever since the accident, unless it was really extreme. Well, at least not in the human world. In the Ghost Zone, Phantom was as good as human.

Ignoring these thoughts, I turned to Sam to take care of the problem before it got out of hand.

"Look, If Jazz said anything to you, I'm sorry," I told her, a little nervous. I knew what Jazz was like, after all, who knows what she said to try and frighten Sam away…

"It's okay," Sam reassured me with a small, genuine smile, "She's your family. I know how family can be." I relaxed that that and laughed a little, surprised at how much calmer I felt at Sam's smile.

"Well, I'm still sorry," I insisted. "And no matter what she told you to try and scare you off, she really does like you."

"She does?" Sam asked in a voice that betrayed her doubt.

_Man, what's Jazz been telling her…?_

"Yeah," I said, sighing in exasperation. "She's just worried because I'm such a freak, and, well…" I paused helplessly, unsure of how to word my thoughts.

"You're not a freak," Sam said, sounding faintly exasperated. "You're different. Different's good." I smiled a little at that.

_You have no idea how different…_I thought wryly.

"Thanks," I told her out loud. "You're different too,"

"Good," Sam said before turning to study the stars. When she did that, I studied her eyes, once again getting that feeling of déjà vu…

"You look beautiful tonight," I blurted out. When Sam turned to stare at me in surprise, I blushed and tried to fix what I'd said. "I mean, you always look beautiful, it's just that tonight you- well I-!" I stopped there as I felt my powers build up, laughing nervously and putting my hands behind my head so Sam wouldn't see me channel as much extra energy as I could into the ground. I heard a yelp behind us, but Sam started talking again before I could turn and see what damaged I'd accidentally caused now.

"I get it," She said with a warm smile. Then she added. "You look really great tonight too, Danny. You're an awesome Phantom,"

"What?" I asked, fear striking through me as I misinterpreted her words. Then I realized what she really meant and couldn't help but smile at the irony. "Oh, yeah, that… Sorry, I thought you meant…" I paused and looked at Sam again, clearing my throat. "Ah, never mind." Luckily, Sam just shrugged, not seeming that concerned with my weird behavior.

"Really, though, thanks for noticing," Sam said, smiling again. "I worked really hard to make this dress so it's nice to know you like it," I felt my head jerk up as I realized what that meant.

"You made that dress?" I asked, surprised and flattered. "For me?" The way Sam suddenly couldn't meet my eyes told me she was blushing underneath her mask.

"Of course not!" She said defensively. "I mean, it was something I had hanging in the closet and I thought I'd spruce it up a bit, you know? And when heard about the party here…"

_Yeah, right…_ I thought dryly.

"Sam…" I said out loud, giving her a look to tell her I wasn't buying it. Sam sighed.

"Yeah, I made it for you," She admitted softly. "I know it's a little much, but I really like you, Danny and I thought maybe you liked me too, and when you stopped coming around I thought-!"

"Easy," I said, holding a finger against her lips. She went quiet then, her eyes never wavering from mine.

_She really does like me as much as I like her, even though we just met…_ Well, at least she THOUGHT we just met, if you take away the Phantom thing… I was suddenly reminded of another play Jazz had done, Romeo and Juliet. After all, they weren't in that different of a boat then Sam and I now…

I promptly kicked myself in the back of my head for thinking things like that, making a note to corner Jazz later and tell her that from now on, she was to keep all play references to herself.

"It's not too much, Sam," I told her, turning back to address the problem. "I'm really flattered you'd do something like that for me. And I do like you, it's just…" I sighed.

_Why shouldn't I tell her?_ I asked myself, _Why shouldn't she know who I really am? I want her to know._

"Sam, there's something I've got to tell you,"

"I'm listening," Sam responded curiously.

"You know Phantom?" I asked, ignoring the surprise that flickered across her eyes. It would all make sense soon…

"Yes…" Sam said, looking a little uncomfortable. I didn't bother with that, though. I was way too busy trying to sort out how O was going to tell her this. After all, I'd never actually TOLD anyone I was half ghost…

"Well, you see, my parents were- are sort of ghost hunters…" I nearly kicked myself for that slip, but shook it off. One thing at a time, and right now, letting Sam know why things were being so hard between us was first priority.

"What's that got to do with-?"

"DANNY!" Sam and I jumped as Tucker, who'd cut her off mid-sentence, came out of no where and grabbed me by the wrist. "Hi Sam, can I borrow him for a second? Thanks! See ya!" And without another word, Tucker dragged me away. As soon as Sam was out of hearing range, I turned on my best friend.

"Tucker," I growled. "What the heck's your problem?"

"MY problem?" Tucker asked. "I'm not the one who's lost it, pal!"

"I haven't lost anything," I sighed in exasperation.

"So what, it just wasn't there to begin with?" Tucker countered, crossing his arms, "Because you couldn't have been thinking things through if you were about to confess about THAT to a girl you barely know with witnesses around!" I frowned.

_Okay, maybe that wasn't my brightest idea…_ I admitted in my head. But no way did I say that aloud.

"I can tell whoever I want, Tucker," I reminded him. "It's my secret,"

"You mean our secret," Tucker corrected dryly. "If that girl exposes you, do you really think Jazz had I won't take a hit too?"

"She's not gonna expose me," I said defensively.

"You can't know that," Tucker told me, exasperation coloring his tone. "And you shouldn't take that kind of a risk, man."

"What about you?" I asked, a little angry, "You're dating a ghost hunter, aren't you? How's that any different, huh?"

"Because Valerie and I aren't official," Tucker reminded me with a little sniff. "And I don't plan on making it official until you give me the go ahead to tell her, which isn't gonna be any time soon." I faltered.

I had no idea Tucker was doing stuff like that to protect me. And Jazz… was that why she refused to date anyone here? Because she was worried about letting them too close to my secret? I knew my friends had been affected by what I was doing, but I never thought…

"Sorry," I sighed. "And you're right. I won't tell her," He was right, too. What right did I have to act like that? They made the sacrifice to keep me safe, so I should return the favor.

"I'm not saying that, dude," Tucker said softly. "Just wait. Give it a little time. Then, if you still wanna tell her, we'll plan it out so you can do it in a place where you two can talk it all out privately. Heck, maybe I'll even fix the Fenton Amnesia-o-matic," I shook my head and faked a grin.

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that." I said. A little calmer, Tucker led the way as we headed back to where Sam was, who had apparently taken to talking to Valerie in our absence.

"Hey there!" Tucker said cheerfully/ "False alarm!" I didn't say anything, though, a little depressed that I now still had to keep up the lies I didn't want to tell to Sam. Maybe Jazz was right and I should just stop this before either of us could get hurt…?

"Danny?" Sam's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "You okay?" I stared at her for a second before I processed the question and sighed, looking away.

"Fine," I muttered, not bringing myself to meet her eyes. Right then I felt like more of a loser then even Dash and his posse always told me I was…

Suddenly, Sam yanked me away, dragging me to the dance floor.

"Come on!" She said in a voice that sounded a little overly happy for her, like she was faking it to cover something else. "I love this song!" I frowned when I listened to the love ballad the DJ was playing, doubting that for some reason.

"Sam," I said seriously. "I don't think-!"

"Good," Sam joked back at me. "Too much of that can hurt you, you know. Especially if you don't do it often." I couldn't suppress a small smile at the friendly poke, but it disappeared when I remembered what I was about to do.

"I'm being serious, Sam," I said.

"So am I," Sam said. I was about to explain things out to her, tell her this had to stop, when she suddenly blurted out; "Dance with me,"

"What?" I asked, faltering slightly. I mean, yeah I know how to dance, but…

"Come on," Sam begged me. "Just one dance, Danny, please?" I sighed and silently put a hand out her tiny waist to guide her to a more secluded section of the dance floor. Once there, her arms entwined behind my head and I started to lead the dance, felling a little awkward at first, but relaxing when I saw how happy it was making Sam. I remembered myself when Sam rested her forehead again my shoulder and I caught the soft sent of her shampoo. It was sweet, but not overly so. I took a breath of it…I could get used to that scent.

"I shouldn't be doing this, Sam," I told her, getting weary of both saying and hearing this.

"I know," Sam said softly.

"…But I can't stop," I confessed, feeling a little helpless. Sam head came up and lilac eyes met mine again.

"I know," She repeated before continuing in a reluctant tone, "Danny… If you want, I could disappear, you know. Leave you alone completely. I know your friends and family don't want us together, and I really don't care too much, but if you want, I'll walk away and never look back. Just say the word, Danny. Yes or no."

I fell silent as I thought about this, torn between what I had to say and what I wanted to say. Want won out in the end…

"No," I told her with finality. "I don't want that," I smiled slightly when Sam let out her breath in relief and smiled up at me sheepishly.

"I just ticked off everyone you care about, huh?" She asked.

"No, I did," I told her honestly. "It was my choice Sam, I made it." I smiled at her as warmly as I cold before I felt my eyes drawn to her lips…

Movement stopped then, for a second, I felt like time itself had stopped as I hesitantly leaned in, unable to deny myself what I wanted, even if it meant we both could get hurt because of it. Sam made no move to protest, instead leaning in and starting to close her eyes. I followed in suit until a familiar face in the crowd caught my eye and chilled me to the bone.

_No…! _I thought, jerking away to give Vlad's smirk a confused look of my own, a mixture of everything I was feeling. He just raised and eyebrow before pulling his glass down and standing to walk away.

"Danny?" Sam said, sounding worried.

"I've got to go," I said, brushing away to find Tucker and Jazz.

_This is bad!_ I thought grimly as I worked my way around people, _Vlad knows… he know about Sam!_

**Gah, I meant to update so much sooner! Sorry! Anyway, time to thank people:**

**Dredoll, Foresaken Beast, Red Raven1994, Rubbishh, Alaqua Slaughter, minirowan, Tazzybizzy, Double I 4 My Guys, and Phantomgal-66!**


	12. New Faces

_I am so glad Jazz isn't here to see this,_ I thought dryly as I finished the dishes, _She'd psychoanalyze the crap outta me about 'regression into old habits to distract myself from my present problems' or something like that…_ Especially since before the dished I'd completely cleaned my room to the point where it was hard to tell anybody actually lived there and changed all my passwords on both of my computers.

Everything considered, I wasn't taking any chances…

"Don't they have maids around here?" Sam asked me just as I finished up.

"Yeah," I sighed, "But I like doing stuff for myself. It keeps me busy. Besides, I don't like other people messing with my things. My mom hasn't even set foot in my room since I was eight,"

That wasn't completely true. I'd actually started freaking out about that stuff when I was five, and Jazz only recently 'weaned' me of most of the habit when she told me I was dangerously close to OCD. Of course, the whole ghost thing helped too…

"Really?" Sam asked, finding something funny about that.

"Yeah, I think I got the neat freak thing from her. She goes nuts over the mess Dad leaves in the lab…" I laughed, remembering the lengths my mom would go to clean. "Jazz takes it to a whole new level, though. She even color codes her M&Ms before she eats them, and always eats the colors in the same order."

"You're kidding," Sam said sounding doubtful.

"Red, blue, yellow, orange, green then brown," I confirmed, grinning, "I've teased her about it since we were kids." Sam laughed at that, shaking his head in amusement.

"Well, we've all got our given 'weird thing.'" He said diplomatically. "It's what makes us unique. Like me, I can put mustard on anything and eat it,"

"Anything?" I said, both interested and grossed out at the same time.

"I especially like buttered popcorn and mustard," He continued, "It drives my mom up the walls,"

"Gross!" I laughed. Butter and Mustard were two things never meant to go together…

"What about you?" Sam asked me, "What's your weird thing?"

_You mean other then the fact that I'm a half ghost who frequently saves the world? _I thought dryly at his wording.

"Well, I do like to put Ranch on my pizza," I told him instead. "I like dipping French fries into it, too."

"Uugh!" Sam made a face at that, and I had to grin. "Okay, how about this; what's the weirdest thing anyone's ever said to you?" I frowned a little as I thought hard about that one. After all, there were so many to choose from…

"…Well, I did have someone threaten to lay my pelt at the foot of their bed before…"

I knew that Skulker's favorite way to greet me was probably a lot tamer then some of the other stuff without being considered too normal. At the look on Sam's face, though, I figured that I might've been a little too much after all…

"Don't ask," I told him dryly, "Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Noted," Sam nodded. I shifted around, trying to think of how to change the subject.

"So, what are your plans over break?" I asked. Not the best subject change, but it didn't seem to raise any flags to Sam.

"Don't have any," Sam answered, "I'm planning on just staying here,"

"That's no fun…" I frowned a little, "Why don't you come with me and Jazz to Vlad's?" Sam flinched at that, and my respect for him went up another notch.

"Uh, I dunno…" He said carefully.

"Aw, come on!" I pressured him. "I mean, it's better then sticking around here all alone right? And Liz is coming, too, so I can use another guy around to keep me company." Sam got a weird look on his face at that for a second, like what I'd said was funny or something.

"What about Tucker?" He asked.

"He's spending the holiday with his family." I answered, "Normally, I'd go with him, but this year Vlad is actually having people over for Thanksgiving so I'm required to attend." I made a face as I remembered that bit from my phone conversation with Vlad. "Apparently one is the daughter of some part of his company that he really wants to introduce me to." Sam's eyes widened at that, and his face paled for some reason.

"I'll come," He said before I could as him about it.

"Great!" I said, relieved. "I know I'll need all the company I can get." The more humans there who didn't know anything, the less likely Vlad was to pull any of his tricks, after all.

Besides, considering the ghost thing, I didn't see too much of Sam recently, so it was probably smart to at least make an attempt to look normal. And I would defiantly use anything and everything I could to distract Vlad after that phone call I got after the dance…

"_Having fun, Romeo?"_ _Vlad asked me mockingly._

"_What do you want?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes._

"_Want?"__ Vlad's voice was full of feigned innocence and pain. __"What makes you think I want anything?"_

"_Don't touch her, Vlad," I growled into the phone._

"_Her who?"__ Vlad pressed, __"The girl you were dancing with? Don't worry. I'm not one to crush insignificant insects like your little butterfly."__ I scowled, blushing slightly at that, partially annoyed and partially relieved. After all, since it was a masquerade, Vlad still didn't know who Sam was… __"But I do have an offer for you to consider,"_

"_Not interested." I said bluntly._

"_You didn't even hear it!" _

"_And I can already tell I won't like it," I glared into the phone._

"_Very well…"__ Vlad sighed. __"If your butterfly is really that trivial to you…"_

"_You said you weren't going to hurt her!" I yelled into the phone._

"_I said I wasn't one to crush insects like her,"__ Vlad corrected me, __"But that doesn't mean I won't if she bothers me too much, or if killing her is beneficial to my plans…"_

"…_What do you want?" I asked at last._

"_There is a young lady I wish for you to speak with," __Vlad responded, __"Her father is a good friend of mine, and I merely wish for you to keep her company at the Thanksgiving feast I'm throwing,"_

…Vlad has friends?_ After getting over my shock at this piece of news, I sighed._

"_Fine," I said coolly, "But Liz is coming down, too. And I'm bringing one more person,"_

"_Yes, yes,"__ Vlad said in a distracted tone__, "Bring as many as you'd like. See you at Thanksgiving, Daniel."__ And with that my archenemy hung up, and I was left glaring sullenly at a dial tone._

The ringing phone interrupted my thoughts, and I jumped up to get it when I saw that Sam didn't hear it.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Danny!" Tucker said back, "Hey! I just wanted to call and tell you Tina and her friends are in. We're all down at the cyber café catching up, and I wanted to know if you wanna come meet them,"

"Isn't one of them supposed to be a gold digger?" I asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, but Liz is here too," Tucker explained, "And Valerie and Jazz. That means two witnesses, and since one is your sister, Megan will probably lay off and Liz probably won't kill her,"

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. Then I sighed. "Well, I've got nothing better to do… But Sam's coming with me!"

"Wow, you want your girlfriend really are inseparable…"

"The other Sam, Tucker!" I growled, "The guy one who happens to be my roommate!"

"Oh, I knew that…"

I rolled my eyes.

"Anyways, I'll tell the others you two are coming. Try to hurry, okay?"

"Got it," I said as we hung up. Shaking my head, I went back to rejoin Sam. "That was Tuck," I told him, dragging him out of his thoughts. "He wants us to meet him down at the cyber café."

"Got it," Sam sighed as she stood. "Just don't force me to watch him consume another small farm."

"Deal," I laughed. The stark difference between Tucker and Sam made them all the more fun to be around. They bickered like cats and dogs, but it was obvious they were good friends all the same.

I frowned a little in thought as we walked down the halls in silence, wondering what had my opinionated roomie so quiet around me all of a sudden. I didn't have to ask, though. Sam beat me to the punch.

"So, Danny," He said in a casual tone, "I heard you took a date to the Masquerade after all." I blushed slightly, thinking about how ironic it was to be talking to Sam about Sam.

"Ah, sort of," I said carefully, a little uncomfortable. After all, who talks about stuff like this?

"Was it the girl from the drawing?" …Obviously Sam did.

"Yeah," I frowned a little, and before I could stop myself, the confession fell from my lips, "Jazz is still mad at me for that," Sam flinched for some reason, but I was too busy hoping that he had a way for me to make things up to Jazz to notice.

"She's mad at you for liking a girl?" Sam asked, looking skeptical.

"She is when me liking anybody means they're in constant danger," I told him dryly.

"Danger of what?" Sam sounded a little annoyed now. He probably had a right to be, everything considered…

"Vlad, for one," I told him, figuring that the partial truth was better then blatant lies. "I don't even want to think of how he'd try to use anyone he thinks could be my weakness. He already tried with Jazz and Tucker, and I don't want him to hurt Sam." I rose my eyebrow when I saw Sam blush. What was he getting flustered about all of a sudden?

"Well, that doesn't sound as bad as it could be." He said.

"Trust me, its worse," I told him honestly. He didn't know about Vlad's ghost powers, or the army of ghosts at his beck and call, after all… "Then there's the ghost thing…" Sam stopped a little at that.

"Ghost thing?" He repeated, "What ghost thing?" I felt my heart stop when I realized my slip.

…_Aw, crap._

"Nothing," I said, at once, hurrying in hopes of escaping the subject. No luck, though. Sam just sped up too…

"It must be something, or it wouldn't be a problem." He said before his eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Wait, does this have anything to do with all those weapons in your room?" I mentally winced at the question. He just had to remember that…

"Those are just keepsakes," I said, keeping with Jazz's story, "What makes you think I'd even know how to use them?"

"The fact that both your parents are ghost hunters," Sam said with a glare, not dropping the subject. I was about to think of some excuse with my ghost sense went off. I felt my blood run cold when I realized Sam would be able to see it in this lighting, and hastily covered my mouth so he wouldn't.

"I've gotta go," I said as soon as the feeling passed, dashing away to find a place to go ghost.

_I seriously think the ghosts really are doing this on purpose… _I though bitterly as I ducking into a janitor's closet.

"Goin' Ghost!" I shouted, this time making the halos go vertical instead of horizontal. It saved time that way, and I didn't want to leave Sam alone with a ghost again…

Slipping through the door with my intangibility, I flew back to where I'd left my roommate, silent and invisible. I bit back a groan when I saw it was Ember again. She would be the one to attack today…

"Yeah right," I heard her snort at whatever Sam had said. "I just saw you talking to him!" I cringed at that.

_Crap!_ I thought desperately, _Maybe he won't make the connection…_

"Wait, you mean Danny?" Sam asked, brightening slightly with curiosity. "What do you want with Danny?"

_Okaaaay, too close for comfort. Time to end this. _Flying up a little, I turned visible again in one of Ember's blind spots, powering up an ectoblast.

"Because he's the loser who- OOF!" I shot my blast as hard as I could before she finished what probably would've been something that ended with Sam finding out about the whole Fenton/Phantom thing.

With Ember now somewhere in the English Hall, I flew down to where Sam stood, startling him a bit.

"You might want to get out of here," I told him, "Ember's no joke, so this could get ugly."

"But I-!" I didn't listen to him as I left to chase Ember down before she could cause any more damage. She tended to be the most quick-tempered and destructive ghost, though Technus was up there too, and even the Box Ghost could to do a lot of property damage.

_Of course most of the damage he does is unintentional… _I added dryly in my head. Shaking these thoughts away, I flew through another wall, preparing myself for the difficult fight ahead of me…

***

"Didn't you mom ever teach you any manners, Dipstick?" Ember growled as she glowered at me.

"This coming from the girl who puts people under spells so she can try and take over the world," I said dryly.

"Aw, what's the matter?" Ember cooed mockingly, "Mad that the other half ghost ruined your big date?"

"You know about that?" I asked, jerking back in surprise.

"Everyone knows about it, Kid," Ember rolled her eyes. "There are bets going around about how long his one will last. It doesn't look too promising for you so far, kid."

_So nice to know that my enemies take such a big interest in my personal life, _I thought sarcastically. Was a little privacy too much to ask for?

"As great as all of this is to know," I called out to the pop star, "Can we get back to business here?"

"Well, if you're really in that much of a hurry for me to kick your butt…" Ember said with a smirk before hitting the destructive note on her guitar.

It hit before I could move, taking out me and half the wall behind me. I shook off my daze from the blow and shot at Ember with an ectoblast that she dodged easily.

"That the best you can do, Dipstick?" Ember taunted.

"Nope," I said, making a sweeping motion with my hand. The stray ectoblast stopped and started back in the direction it'd come from, nailing Ember in the back while she was off-guard which earned a yell of shock and pain from the ghost. "That is."

Ember only stayed down for a few seconds before blue flames erupted everywhere, which was usually a good sign that Ember wasn't happy. I frowned, knowing that Ember's reckless abandon of any and all care for property and personal life would only increase with her temper.

_Better get outta here before some student gets hurt,_ I decided, flying up and away. Ember shot up after me, her pace steady and fast as the blue flames of her hair streaked behind her like some kind of comet.

About ten minutes and five destructive notes later, I managed to get Ember to a fairly secluded place where she could try to kill me in peace.

Key word there being 'try.'

"What's with the frontal all of a sudden, anyways?" I asked her as I dodged a blast, taking aim hand hitting her in the back before se could try again. "Usually, you're one of the sneaky ones."

"I wanted to see if all that junk about your new crush was true," Ember replied in an overly sweet voice, "But since she wasn't working today, I decided to kick your butt before you hunted me down."

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically. Inside though, I was a little worried. The ghosts were starting to go after Sam? After just one date? I made a mental note to add the Pharmacy onto my patrol list, and to put some of the ghost alarms Mom made on the building. Those would tell me if a ghost got in, even if it was through phasing in.

"Anyways, it's time to say bye-bye, ghost boy!" Ember said with a smirk, preparing to strike her guitar again. I tensed, ready to dodge wishing there was a way to counter the destructive note with my own…

_Oh, duh!_ I realized, _I am SUCH an idiot! _I relaxed and let Ember hit the note, waiting for just the right timing to let loose a ghostly wail.

"What the-?" Ember gasped as the attacks clashed. Both of our eyes widened as the two attacked made some freaky blue and pink ball of energy that blew up, sending us both flying in a brilliant white explosion. I only barely noticed I'd changed back into a human somewhere mid-fall before I hit the ground painfully.

_Okay, maybe that wasn't my best idea…_I thought blankly before blacking out.

***

"…Hey, are you okay? Hey!"

Groaning, I opened my eyes, blinking blearily up at unfamiliar blue eyes framed by long black hair. The girl who was leaning over me with a concerned look on her face was pretty. Actually she looked vaguely like Sam, with the only major differenced being the hair length eye color and the fact that this girl was in a Wendy uniform, which was a shade of pink Sam wouldn't be caught dead in.

"Wha…?" I moaned out, sitting up. The girl put a hand on my back to help me.

"Should I call an ambulance?" She asked, "My friends already went ahead to get some help…"

"No," I said automatically, "Thanks, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" The girl pressed, frowning around us, "It looks like a bomb when off here…"

_Close enough,_ I thought dryly, shaking my head to clear it.

"I'm sure," I said, starting to stand. "Thanks, but I better-!"

Shooting pain cut me off, and I flinched and grabbed the girl's shoulder to steady myself as black dots swam in my vision.

"I'm calling an ambulance," The girl said, reaching for her purse.

"No!" I grabbed her hand, "Please, the last thing I need right now it to go to the hospital…" The girl studied me curiously for a second before she gasped, her eyes widening in recognition.

"You're Danny Fenton!" She exclaimed. I blinked.

"How did you- Aw, hell…" The press conference. This girl knew I was Vlad's heir.

_Crap…_

"I won't call an ambulance," the girl promised, "But only if you let me help you back to your home. You need some kind of help…"

"Deal," I agreed. It wasn't what I wanted, but it was better then nothing. I got to my feet, a little shaky but I didn't all this time thankfully. "Ah, thanks again… um…" I winced, realizing I'd never asked her name.

"Oh, it's no problem Danny," She assured me sweetly, "And by the way, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Megan,"

**Gah! Haha! Sorry for the long wait, peoples. I'm sorry! I was so caught up trying to write chapter 20. (key word being trying). I want to have a decent chap to post right after 19! Say hello to xxBakaAkki who is my new co-author/beta. **

**Thanks to: **

**Trinity Fenton-Phantom, windtear, phantom misfit, xxBakaAkki, Minirowan, Kaze no Ato, bleachbabe03, Ava Magic88, bookworm700, have-a-cookie, lover143, scrammy, outsidehotkb and ThunderRiver411~~~!!!!**

**I know that took forever—one again, sorry! Chapter 13 to be up ASAP!!!!!  
**

**Love y'all,**

**Lena **


	13. Decisions

"Hey, how are you holding up?" Megan asked me as we walked towards Casper.

"I'm fine," I said mechanically.

It was an automatic response for me to deny any and all pain ever since I first became Phantom, even in the early days when I was struggling against Lunch Lady. Jazz called it my 'hero reflex.' It always bugged her, since she kept insisting it would kill me one day.

"Are you sure?" She pressed, frowning at me in concern, "Those injuries look pretty serious…"

"I've been through worse," I told her, flinching when I comprehended my words. I was always more loose-lipped when I was in pain…

"A bad boy, huh?" Megan asked playfully. "I wouldn't have taken you as the type to go looking for trouble…"

"I don't," I told her grimly. "Trouble finds me," Megan laughed a little at that.

"I can see that," She said, bemused.

"Meg?" I heard a new female voice call out, "Megan! What do you think you're doing?" Megan sighed in annoyance, rolling her eyes irritably.

"That would be the friend I told you about earlier," She told me dryly. I blinked in a daze as a girl around our age approached us, a small frown on her face as her eyes darted between me and Megan, a tense, worried look in her eyes. I raised an eyebrow at her as she came closer.

_She looks familiar… _I thought vaguely.

"He woke up, Tina," Megan called to the girl. "I was just helping him get back to his dorm," Tina's lips pursed just as I matched the face to the memories I had of her.

_So that's Tuck's cousin, huh?_ I smiled slightly to myself. _She's changed since the last time I saw her…_

"Don't you think he should go to the hospital, Megan?" Tina asked, her voice tight and her tone pointed. I smiled wryly when I heard it.

Obviously someone had some trust issues… not that I blamed her. A beaten up guy lying in the middle of nowhere who didn't want to go to the hospital probably set off bells and whistles for almost any girl.

Which kind of made me wonder what made Megan so trusting.

_Then again, Tuck did say she was a gold digger,_ I remembered at last, _And she knew my name, which isn't a promising sign…_

"He said he didn't want to go," Megan responded to Tina's question, her eyes narrowing in challenge, "So I felt it was only best to make sure he got home okay, considering his state."

"You let you hair grow out." I announced, startling both girls.

"Huh?" Tina said, blinking at me and raising an eyebrow.

"Your hair's gotten longer since I saw you at Tucker's birthday." I clarified, "Remember? There was that big ghost attack and Tucker-"

"Used that Thermos-thingy to save me!" Tina finished with a gasp, her eyes widening. "Danny?"

"Nice to see you remember me," I said with a weak grin, "Though something tells me this little reunion could've been held a little more gracefully…"

"Yeah, I'd imagine so…" Tina said, her mouth twitching in a suppressed smile, "It feels like it's been forever though! How've you been?"

"As of now? I can honestly say there've been better days…" I rolled my eyes pointedly.

_Then again, there've been worse, too, _I reminded myself grimly. The fight with Pariah Dark, for example… and the thing with my evil future self…

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious," Tina laughed dryly. "Do you need any help getting back? I wanted to talk to Sam again, anyways."

"I've got it," Megan said quickly, giving Tina a pointed look. "You should head back to Wendy and tell someone what happened so we won't get into trouble."

"If you can, don't tell Jazz," I begged her, "I don't want her freaking out about me again, not with that big Psych thing coming up."

"I'll keep it low pro," Tina promised, nodding at me, "Hope you feel better soon, Danny,"

"Thanks," I sighed as I hobbled away, Megan at my side watching anxiously as if expecting me to collapse at any given second.

"Does this happen a lot, then?" Megan asked me. I blinked, not following her.

"What?"

"These… attacks," Megan clarified, motioning towards me with a hand, "You said you didn't want this Jazz person to freak out on you again. Does that mean this happens a lot?"

"I guess." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Thank God the school was close enough that we'd probably be there in a few minutes… "They happen enough. And my sister always freaks over every little thing."

"Oh?" Megan said mildly. "Are you two close? You and your sister, I mean,"

"We're all each other has," I responded honestly.

"What about Mr. Masters?" Megan asked.

"What about him?" I snapped back as we entered the Casper campus.

"So you two don't get along?" Megan asked, sounding genuinely surprised. I was about to respond when my vision swam again, and I groaned, leaning against a nearby lamp post.

"Danny? Danny!"

I barely noticed when Megan rushed forward, putting one hand on my chest as she slung one of my arms over her shoulder to support me.

"I'm fine," I mumbled automatically.

"I'm taking you to your dorm, now," Megan insisted stubbornly, "Where do I need to go?" I sagged in defeat, too exhausted to argue.

"Dorm 13, floor six, room 073," I answered, supporting myself the best I could as we made our way to my dorm.

It didn't take us long to get there, and when we did, Megan set right to business, pounding away at the door to get someone's attention. The sound of the harsh rapping noise made me flinch slightly.

_Knock, knock, knock!_

"Sam, are you in there?" Megan cried out as she continued to knock, "It's an emergency!" A part of me wondered how Megan knew my roommate before I remembered the Cyber Café meeting I missed.

_What the heck did they talk about down there…?_ I wondered vaguely as the door opened and Sam stepped out, freezing up when he saw us.

A flood of guilt running through me, I hastily looked away to avoid meeting my friend's eyes.

_I hate having to live like this…_I thought sourly.

"Danny?" I heard Sam exclaim. "What-?"

"Can we come in before you start quizzing him?" Megan snapped in annoyance, "He's kind of in bad shape here, you know." I didn't say anything and still didn't look at Sam even as Megan and I moved past him and towards my room.

_I just want there to be a day were I can be honest about stuff like this,_ I thought bleakly as I entered my room, _I just want the lies to stop…_

***

"Man, Danny, you really know how to screw yourself up…" Tucker shook his head in exasperation as he finished wrapping a bandage around one of my arms. I winced as he sealed the bandaging with some tape/

"What, you think I did this on purpose?" I asked dryly, wincing at the pain again. "Do me a favor and make a note that taking on Ember with a ghostly wail is a really bad idea, would ya, Tuck?"

"Noted!" Tucker said cheerfully, tapping it into his PDA. I rolled my eyes before fixing my best friend with a dry look.

_He has got to learn to take things less literally…_ I thought to myself as I finished up with the last of my injuries.

"What are you doing here, anyways?" I asked mildly, "It couldn't have been to see me, Tuck."

"Oh, I was just, you know, hanging out with Sam," Tucker shrugged. "We learned some… ah… interesting things about each other."

…_Why don't I like the sound of that…?_

"How interesting?" I asked with a pointed glare.

"Let's just say it made me look at him in a whole new way…" Tucker told me, shaking his head.

_He can't tell me, then, _I thought, frowning. Tucker knew full well I hated it when secrets were being kept from me. It was another of the many 'Fenton Traits' he teased me about. Others included being prone to obsession, hunting ghosts and being overprotective.

"Hey, Danny?" Tucker said casually, "You like that one girl, right? Sam?"

"Haven't we been over this before?" I said with a dry sigh, "Tucker, I already told you…"

"I think you should tell her." I jerked back in surprise.

"WHAT?" I said, my eyes going wide. That certainly was NOT expected…

"I'm serious, dude! I mean, if you like her and she likes you, then who am I to tell you two you can't date?"

"What happened to waiting?" I asked, frowning at my best friend. Why did he have a sudden change of heart…?

"In this case, that just might complicate things more." Tucker said in a dry tone.

…_huh?_

"What do you mean by that?" I raised an eyebrow at me best friend.

"Never mind," Tucker said hastily, "The point is, you really should tell her."

"Try telling that to Jazz," I said wryly, "She thinks I should just break things off altogether, considering the whole Vlad thing…"

"Well, maybe if you tell her everything, you can figure something out," Tucker said optimistically. "I mean, they say two heads are better then one, right? Maybe Sam can think of something we haven't," I sighed, and then glared at Tucker.

"Okay, what's going on?" I asked, tired of the whole situation.

"Huh?" Tucker blinked at me, startled at my tone.

"First Jazz encourages me to start dating again only to pull the breaks as soon as she meets Sam, then you keep insisting I take it slow only to change your mind after you've spent time with her," My glare darkened, "Do you guys know something you're not telling me?"

"No!" Tucker said quickly, putting up his hands in front of him in a defensive gesture. "What gave you that idea?"

"Tucker…" I growled. My best friend winced.

"Hehe…" He said meekly. "Wow, you know, I think these bandages here are a little loose! Lemme just…" I sighed as Tucker undid some of my gauze, tightening it to the point where it cut off circulation to the rest of my arm.

_Great,_ I thought sourly, _Now he's keeping stuff from me, too… can't anyone be honest with me anymore? _Then again, I couldn't talk. I mean, none of them were half ghost superheroes after all, and there aren't many secrets out there that compete with something like that…

"I get it, Tucker," I said dryly, watching my friend relax in relief. A tense silence followed before Tucker cleared his throat to change the subject.

"So, Sam told me you had another fight with Ember today," He said, crossing his arms, "Any luck?" My eyes widened and I cursed.

"Aw, man…" I groaned, "I completely forgot about her!" Jumping up, I grabbed a nearby Thermos and started for a window.

"Are you crazy?" Tucker yelped, grabbing my arm, "You can't go after Ember in your condition!"

"I have to, Tucker," I reminded him, a little frustrated. "You know she'll wreak havoc if I don't drag her sorry butt back to the Ghost Zone!"

Tucker frowned. "Is she any better off then you are?" He asked.

"Doubt it," I admitted, "We both got hit by that blast pretty hard…"

"I'll do it," Tucker volunteered, taking the thermos from me. "It should be so hard if you've already beaten her to a pulp, just push the button and take her back to FentonWorks, no sweat."

"You don't have to do that, Tuck," I said, frowning.

"Come on, man," Tucker said, "I won't even take that long tracking her down if I just take… hey, where'd the Fenton Finder go?" I blinked, glancing over and frowning when I saw the invention was missing from its spot.

"That's weird…" I frowned before shrugging it off, "Maybe Jazz took it since hers was broken. Hang on, I have one of the originals around here somewhere…."

"But the one you made is cooler!" Tucker whined, sulking slightly, "I mean, you could track down a specific ghost with that one!"

"Tucker…" I warned, frowning at my friend.

"Alright, alright!" Tucker sighed. "Killjoy…" He took the original Fenton Finder, pocketing it before heading for the door.

"…Hey, Tuck?" I smiled at my friend as he turned to face me. "Thanks,"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Tucker asked cheerfully before he left, closing the door behind him. I chuckled slightly, lying down on my bed and staring up at the ceiling.

_Yeah, but he goes above and beyond the call of a friend,_ I said mentally_. I'm lucky he and Jazz are here to help me like this. Who knows where I'd be without them…?_

***

"You're sure you're okay?" Jazz pressed, worry evident in her tone.

"Yeah, 100 percent better," I answered truthfully, "Especially since Tuck caught Ember without a hitch."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far…" Jazz giggled slightly. I shook my head.

"What happened?" I sighed, not really wanting to know but wanting to at the same time.

"He forgot the Fenton Phones again," Jazz explained, "Ember had him under a spell for a while, until I found them and broke it,"

"Do I wanna know how you managed to break Ember's spell?" I asked warily.

"Let's just say in involved a bathing suit and the Fenton Flamethrower." Jazz replied.

"I'll take that as a 'not ever in this lifetime,'" I said, shivering violently at the mental images. The sound of an opening door drew my eyes downward, and I stiffened when I saw Sam leaving the Nasty Burger, looking amused about something. "Anyways, I've gotta go,"

"Ghost Trouble?" Jazz asked.

"Something like that…" I answered. It wasn't a complete lie, after all, Ember had told me that there was a threat on Sam's life now… I just didn't want Jazz to know all the details, fearing yet another lecture.

"Stay safe, little bro," Jazz said before hanging up. I pocketed my cell phone and flew down lower to follow Sam as she navigated her way through the crowd, maintaining my invisibility the whole time.

I raised an eyebrow when she headed into an abandoned alleyway, more then a little confused when she stopped, skipping a hand into her skirt pocket.

"You can come out now," She called out, turning to smile right at me. I only just managed to catch myself before my surprise had me plummeting to the ground. My surprise quickly turned to curiosity and confusion, though, so I relented, allowing myself to become visible again.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked her, my eyebrow kicking up. Sam drew her hand out of her skirt. In it was a familiar silver invention that made my eyes widened and my face pale even more.

_No way…_

"It's some kind of ghost detection device I think," Sam told me as she re-pocketed it.

"That's the Fenton Finder 2.0!" I blurted out, surprised that she'd managed to snag it, "How did you get that?" Sam flinched slightly at the question.

"Uh, Internet?" She replied with a weak smile. I shot her a look.

_Do I have 'stupid' written on my forehead or something…? _I thought dryly at that pathetic response.

"Wanna tell me why you were following me?" Sam asked, giving me a pointed look.

"What makes you think I was-?" The look became more pointed, and I sighed, deciding to come clean. "…I was just making sure you were okay. There's a threat on you life now, ever since your date with m- Fenton." I mentally kicked myself for the near slip.

"Danny's not a danger to me," Sam said in a defensive tone, "Look, even if he's tried to hunt you or whatever, he's a really nice guy."

"I never said he- Wait, what?" I gasped at her. Did I hear that last part right…? "What makes you think Fenton's a ghost hunter?"

"Hmm, let's review, shall we?" Sam said, sarcasm dripping from her tone, "Point One; All of Danny's family hunts ghosts, with the exception of Jazz. Point Two; Danny has an arsenal in his room to take out an army of ghosts. Point Three; Every time Danny takes off on me, a ghost appears a few seconds later… well, except for the Vlad thing, but that was obvious." Sam crossed her arms and glared at me. "I'm not stupid, you know,"

"I never said you were," I said quickly.

_Wrong, yes. Stupid? Definitely not,_ After all, at least she managed to make a connection between Fenton and Phantom, which was a lot closer to the truth then anyone else had gotten without having it spelled out for them.

"So you're not even going to deny it?" Sam said, raising an eyebrow. I hesitated a moment, trying to figure out how to handle this.

_Maybe I should start with a little bit of the truth at a time…_ I decided, _That was, I'll be following Tucker's advice and not breaking my promise to Jazz,_

"No," I answered, "I won't. Fenton is a ghost hunter… but he's never tried to hunt me."

_Though technically he can't because he IS me._

"Really?" I didn't miss the relief that flashed across Sam's face when I said that, and I couldn't help but smirk.

"What, were you worried for me?" I teased, grinning at her blush.

"So what if I was?" Sam said with a mock glare. I had to laugh at that, relaxing. As crazy and spontaneous as Sam could be, she was so much fun that it was impossible not to like her…

It was when I was thinking about this that Sam suddenly stepped forward, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the alley.

"You know what? Let's go somewhere!" She said, still dragging me away.

"What?" I said, not hiding my surprise.

"Let's go somewhere!" She said again, "Just hang out, you know? We could catch a movie, then head down to that carnival they're having!" I hesitated a little at that.

"I dunno, Sam," I said, shifting uncomfortably. "I mean, I'm kinda… well…" I glanced over at a nearby Wanted poster of me and Sam flinched guiltily.

"I've got a friend who's really into fashion," She announced, stubbornness set on her face, "She can fix you up so no one can recognize you." I frowned a little at that.

_She's not talking about Liz… is she?_ I thought warily.

"Uh, what's this friend's name?" I asked.

"Lisa," Sam answered, raising an eyebrow at me, "Why?" I sighed in relief at not having to face the nightmare of Liz finally getting her hands on my ghost form.

"No reason," I told her, grinning dryly, "What the heck, I've got nothing better to do,"

"That's the spirit!" Sam said, tugging at my arm again. "Come on, we need to get to Wendy so Lisa can-!" I cut the girl off by pulling her close before taking off into the air, grinning a little at her tight grip on me before she relaxed enough to give me a dirty look.

"You wanna give me a little warning next time?"

"Sorry," I responded, trying and failing to make it sound genuine. Sam's glare darkened, and I had to bite back a laugh. That's when something she said earlier came back to me, and a frowned a little in confusion.

"Hey, Sam?" I said, turning back to the goth.

"Hm?" Sam responded sullenly.

"When did you ever go into Fenton's room, anyways?" I sure as heck didn't remember having her over…

…**.and so we have chapter 13! Look, I'm sorry for the long wait. Chapter 14 will be up sooner, but I haven't worked on chapter 20 at all, but I WILL make myself complete it! Thank you so much:**

**Kogome51, stickfight3, Dwarg91, bookworm700, allen niichan, , xXGothicEclipseXx, snazzy123, Damnatibus, Coralynn, Jemi27, and Darkened-eva!!!!!!!!**

**~Elena Forest**


	14. Surprises

"…So you went over to check on Fenton, but he wasn't there and his roommate Sam let you in?" I repeated the girl's excuse, frowning to myself.

_Funny, why didn't Sam say anything to me…?_ I'd have to have a chat with my roomie later about telling me when people came to see me.

"Yep," Sam said, drawing my out of my thoughts, "Really nice guy, by the way. I found the Fenton Finder lying around in his room and thought it looked cool."

…_In his… oh, no…_

"You went into his room?" I repeated, by voice squeaking slightly. I blushed a little, but couldn't help but ask, "Ah, was this before or after he cleaned? You know, just out of curiosity…" I laughed nervously at Sam's weird look, feeling like a total idiot.

"There's the Dorm," Sam told me, pointing below us, "Take us in and I'll bring us to Lisa."

"Got it," I responded, bringing us down. I noticed that Sam didn't so much as flinch, and my admiration of her increased. After all, Jazz still got weird-ed out by the feeling and even Tucker took a while to get used to it. I set her down in the hall and followed as she led me to a room, heading over to knock on the door. Before she did, though, she turned back to face me.

"Before," She said, her face straight but a twinkle in her eyes told me she was restraining a laugh. "And I bet those red boxers with the white polka dots look good on him, too,"

_Huh?_ I thought, _What is she… Aww, MAN! _ I felt my face heat up when I realized what she meant. _Great. Now I'd die of embarrassment every time I look at those boxers!_

"You might wanna go invisible," Sam said after she knocked on the door. "I don't know if her roomie's in or not, or how she'll react to seeing a ghost at her front door for that matter, so…"

"Got it," I responded, doing as she said. A second later, the door opened and a small girl with semi-long brown hair with blonde sun streaks walked out, startled to find Sam in front of her.

"Sam?" She said, surprise clear in her voice.

"Hey, Lisa!" Sam said in a bright tone, "Got a minute? Your roommate's not home, is she?"

"Uh, sure," Lisa said, stepping aside to invite Sam in, "And no, she's at some club thing, but-!"

"Great!" Sam cut her off, charging in. I followed her, maintaining invisibility and even going intangible for a bit when I walked through Lisa. "Anyways, I have a huge favor to ask you…" Sam continued, leaving the sentence hanging.

"Well, I'd be happy to help," Lisa said, smiling hesitantly at Sam, "What's the problem?"

"Well…" Sam started as she shut the door for privacy. "It's not really my problem, it's my friend's…"

"Friend?" Lisa repeated, "What-?" She stopped short as I turned visible again, she eyes widening in shock.

"Lisa," Sam said sweetly, "Meet Phantom, the superhero in this town. He's the ghost you've been hearing so much about. Well, one of, I'm sure…"

"Hello," I said in a warm tone, moving to shake the girl's hand.

"Nice to meet you," Lisa said blankly, taking my hand with a stunned look still on her face. It was kind of funny, and if the look on Sam's face meant anything, she thought so, too.

"I was kind of hoping we could head out to the carnival they're having this weekend at the edge of town," Sam cut in, "Only Phantom's a little conspicuous, so I was hoping…"

"You wanted me to make him a disguise?" Lisa finished, her shock falling away into joy, "Well, that sounds like fun! Especially since I have help now, too!"

…_Wait, what? _I glanced at Sam, but she looked just as confused as I felt.

"Help?" She said, raising an eyebrow at Lisa.

"Yeah, that's what I was trying to tell you earlier," Lisa explained, her bright tone never fading, "I have company over. It turned out she's really into fashion, too, so we were just comparing some sketches and stuff. She's really good!" Sam and I never got the chance to respond to that when the kitchen door opened up and the last person I wanted messing around with my clothes walked out.

"Lisa, I can't find the-" Liz started before stopping abruptly when she saw Sam and me standing there talking to Lisa. She looked surprised, which was a pretty rare look on Liz. "…Do I wanna know what's going on here?"

"Sam wants us to give her new friend Phantom a make-over!" Lisa explained in a bright, innocent tone. I couldn't help but pale when I realized that the words 'Phantom' and 'Make-over' had just been used in front of Liz, with me in clear view.

"Aw, hell…" I said, starting to back away as Liz got that look in her eyes again. Maybe if I took off now I could get away before it was too late…

"Really…" Liz said, grinning at me in the way that told me that now was a good time to find somewhere to hide for a long, LONG time. "Well, I can do that!"

"No!" I said at once, horrified at the prospect of being Liz's living Ken doll, "Ah, I mean… maybe this isn't such a good idea…" A weird look passed Liz's face for a second, and I caught the way she studied me curiously before grabbing me and hauling me away before I could make my escape.

"Nonsense!" She sang in a sugary sweet voice, "Now just relax and leave everything to me, ghost-boy. You're in Lizella Cartel's world now, and there's no escape!"

"That's what I'm afraid of…" I said dryly.

"What was that?" Liz asked, her tone never losing its cavity-inducing quality even though the threat was clear.

"Nothing!" I said at once. Liz only used that tone when she was willing to commit a homicide if she didn't get her way, and I happened to like having the ability to breathe.

Liz shut the door behind us as soon as she got me into the room, shoving me into an empty chair and studying me with a thoughtful frown on her face. I felt my nervousness increase as she started to circle me like a buzzard, eying me from head to toe.

"Well, I think you've got the right idea with the black," She said thoughtfully, "But we need to make it more subtle. Not too mention hiding your hair and eyes if you're really going out in public… Damn, I wish this wasn't so last minute…"

"Look, I understand if you're busy, so-!"

"Then again, I could always just have you wear pieces of the Phantom bit again, but that might seem a little tacky…" Liz continued as if she hadn't heard me.

"I'm not wearing the Phantom costume again!" I said at once, "Damn it, Liz, it's bad enough you've already signed me up… to…to…to…." I trailed off at Liz's triumphant smirk. "…Aw, shoot…"

" 'Aw Shoot,' indeed, Ghost Boy," Liz said, sounding amused. "Open mouth, insert foot." I blushed, then sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"How long have you-?"

"Known?" Liz finished, "About eight seconds. Before that, it was just a hunch for a long time. I mean, the way Jazz worried about you, it's kinda hard to miss." The older girl gave me an encouraging smile, "Relax, little man, I won't tell a soul. Not even my uncle. God knows he needs you around to remind him he's still just a mortal…" I laughed a little at that, shaking my head. Before we could talk about it anymore, though, the door opened again and Lisa came in.

"Okay, Liz!" She said brightly, shutting the door behind her, "Ready when you are!"

"Then let's get started!" Liz said, turning to me with a predatory grin. I gulped loudly at the look.

_Not. Good._

***

"Sam, I want to thank you for this rare, once in a lifetime opportunity," I rolled my eyed as I heard Liz call that out to Sam, who I couldn't see since I was instructed not to leave the room until I got my cue.

Liz didn't tell me exactly what she'd do to me if I disobeyed her, but from what she left to my imagination and what I knew about my sister's best friend, I wasn't in a hurry to find out.

"Once in a lifetime?" I heard Sam repeat.

"Of course," Liz responded, "You don't honestly think there's a snowball's chance in hell Phantom's gonna let me play dress up with him again, do you?"

_Got that right,_ I thought dryly, fidgeting uncomfortably. I never wore anything but my suit in my ghost form, so it felt weird being dressed up in the clothes Liz and Lisa picked out for me.

"Anyways," Lisa's giggling broke through my thoughts, "Liz and I are proud to present-!"

"-The fruit of our strenuous labor-" Liz added in for effect.

"The newest cutie in Amity, Tom Phan!" I blinked at that, a little startled by the title.

_Cutie? _I thought to myself as the door opened and I moved to step forward, _They think I'm cute?_

I shook this thought off though when I saw the look on Sam's face, pure dumb shock. I shifted under her eyes, suddenly more self-conscious then I ever was as Phantom.

I knew I looked a lot different know then I did in my hazmat, which I guess was the point. They put me in a black t-shirt with a pirate symbol on the front, and gave me a black choker that restricted my breathing a bit. Liz had made the necklace in jewelry, with a symbol hanging from it that looked a lot like a P in a D. That alone made me suspicious about what Liz had told me earlier. Especially with the wink she gave me when she handed it to me to put on.

A black barbwire-like bracelet was wrapped around my left wrist, and a fake tattoo that looked like a circlet of thorns was on my right shoulder, just below the hem of my shirt. Three earrings were in my left ear, and two in my right, and a black baseball cap was being used to hide my hair. A pair of sunglasses were pushed up against my nose, hiding my eyes from sight. I though this addition was a little cliché since it was done pretty much everywhere, but whatever works, right?

Sam's little friend Lisa talked me into wearing tight dark blue jeans, which were probably the most uncomfortable pants in the world. A silver chain hung from my right pocket and dark brown steel-toed combat boots (Courtesy of Liz) had replaced my normal boots.

"Well?" Lisa asked, grinning at Sam, "What do you think? Normal AND gorgeous, right?"

_You know, a part of me almost hopes she doesn't like it, _I said to myself. If she did like it, I knew for a fact that Liz would never let me live it down.

"You…" Sam gaped at me, still looking shocked, "You look… wow! Nice job, girls!" I bit back a groan as Liz and Lisa shared grins.

"Hear that?" Liz said pointedly to me, smirking triumphantly, "SHE likes it!" I blushed slightly and glared back at Liz.

"So?" I countered, "That doesn't mean you're off the hook!"

"Well, you two had better go," Lisa giggled with a pointed look at Sam.

"Have fun, kids!" Liz said sweetly, "And remember, don't do anything I'd do!"

"No worried there…" I muttered dryly under her hearing. Sam caught it, though, and gave me a knowing smirk.

_Jazz is gonna freak when Liz tells her about this…_ I thought dryly to myself, hoping that Jazz would find her best friend being in on the secret a more vital fact then my date with Sam as Phantom. It wasn't likely, but still, a guy could hope, right?

"So," Sam said, drawing me back to the present, "Was that really as bad as it sounded?" I scowled a little at the question, and how amused Sam sounded when she asked it.

_I'm gonna have to lock her in a room with Liz one of these days just so she knows how it feels, _I promised myself darkly before I answered the Goth's question.

"Let's just say I never would've thought it was even possible to be molested by two girls in so many different ways in such a short amount of time," I told her shortly, earning a laugh from Sam.

"Oh, I don't know about that," She told me playfully. "Give Paulina ten minutes and I'm sure she'll top 'em both!" Sam ducked away hastily as I worked out what shed just said, my face flaming when I realized what she was implying.

"…SAM!"

***

"Come on, folks, don't be shy, take a whack at it!" the short, balding mad at the Test Your Strength Booth yelled out as Sam and I walked by. "You there! How about winning a prize for the lovely lady?" I was a little started at being singled out like that, but before I could respond, a weird sensation kicked in.

It was almost like everything slowed down for a moment, and when I glanced back over at the game my vision seemed to zoom in on the cylinder and the line that read 98 near the top.

I didn't know how, but I could tell in an instant that the cylinder was filled with lead, making it heavier then it looked and a thin, almost invisible bump ran across the 98 line to stop the cylinder if it managed to get that high.

…_Whoa_! I thought, I little dazed, _Freaky new power…._ I took a step back, feeling more then a bit woozy, and then I noticed everyone was staring at me and I cringed slightly.

"Uh-!"

"Actually," Sam cut me off as she stepped up, her tone cold and angry, "Ever think that the 'lovely lady,' wants to take a whack at it herself?"

_That can't be good,_ I thought, looking from the angry Sam to the grinning announcer and tensing.

"Hear that, folks?" The announcer yet out, baiting Sam some more, "The little lady wants a shot!" I took another involuntary step back when I saw Sam's face, fury written all over it.

_DEFINITELY not good…_

"Sam," I whispered into her ear, wanting to warn her before it was too late and she did something she regretted, "You really shouldn't… the game is-!"

"Gimme that mallet!" Sam snapped at the announcer, grabbing the large hammer from his hand and shoving a wad of bills in its place. I sighed heavily and leaned against a telephone pole.

_Too late,_ I thought wryly. Then I blinked and smirked when an idea hit me.

Making sure no one was looking, I put a hand on the pole behind me, sending out a trail of energy to 'help' the cylinder along as Sam took a whack at it. In my hurry to synch up with Sam, though, I used too much power, and the cylinder ended up in deep space because of it.

_Oops, _I thought, cringing guiltily. I didn't mean to do that, after all… Still, at the look on the announcer's face, I couldn't help but bait him the same way he's gone after Sam like that.

"You know, this may just be a guess," I called out, "But I think that one earns a prize,"

"Keep it," Sam said shortly as she shove the mallet into the guy's arms, "And next time, think before you laugh at a girl like that, or else the next thing that mallet's gonna hit is your head." And with that, she stormed away, grabbing my arms in a grip I didn't think someone so skinny could possess and dragging me away from the crowd.

"Uh, Sam?" I said warily, "Are you okay?" anger flashing in her eyes, Sam wheel around to give me an accusing glare.

"You did something, didn't you?" She snapped furiously, "You did something and that's why it went so high!" My first reaction was surprise that she managed to figure that out so fast on her own. After that though, a wave of guilt hit me when I realized I'd goofed up big time.

"No!" I protested, "What makes you think that?"

"Phantom…" Sam growled back. I sighed in defeat.

"Well… I might've given it a little push…" I mumbled, sifting from one foot to another.

"Why would you do that?" Sam asked, getting angrier at my confession, "I can do things myself, Phantom, I don't need you helping me cheat like that!"

"I never said you couldn't!" I defended myself, "But-!"

"But nothing!" Sam turned and started away with her arms crossed and her posture tense. "What in the world made you think it was okay to cheat like that in my name, huh? Did you think something like that would impress me? Showing off?"

"No!" I said, getting a little mad myself now. Did she honestly think I'd use my powers for shortcuts like that? "That wasn't why I did it, Sam!"

"Then why, huh?" Sam demanded loudly, turning to glare at me again.

"Because he was cheating!" I snapped back, "That cylinder was weighted down with lead, and there was a stopper near the top so it couldn't make it all the way up!" Sam gaped at me as I finished saying this, a stunned look on her face.

"There was?" She asked me, raising one eyebrow in confusion "How did you know that?" I blushed a little and shifted around. I didn't like talking about my powers with anyone but Tucker and Jazz.

"I just…" I sighed, unable to describe the strange sensation, "I don't know, okay? It was kind of a weird thing where I could just tell all of this stuff when I shouldn't have known it at all. A new power I think."

"A new power?" Sam repeated, "You mean, you don't just have the powers you get when you die? You can still learn new powers now?"

"Yeah," I admitted, "This one's kinda like another sixth sense, I guess."

"That's so cool!" Sam grinned widely. Um, wow, mood change much…? "So, do you get your powers after you get to a certain point, or are there set intervals or something?" I blinked, a little startled at the giddy, girlish look on Sam's face.

…_Huh?_

"Uh, I dunno," I said slowly, "They just kinda… happen. One second it's normal and the next, I'm shooting ice beams from my eyes." Not that I had ice powers, but that was the way things generally went.

"That sounds like fun," Sam grinned impishly. "So how many powers do you have anyways?" I gaped at Sam for a second after that before I broke down and laughed.

"You're not like other girls, Sam," I told her dryly through my laugher.

_Then again, that's part of what make you so much fun…_

"Tell me something I don't know," Sam smirked back at me. Shaking her head, she grabbed my arm again and pulled me away, though this time it was clear all was forgiven and forgotten, "Anyways, come on! There's a ride I saw that I to try out!"

"Really?" I asked, a little wary, "What kind of ride?"

"You'll see!" Sam giggled, doing nothing for my nerves.

_Something tells me this isn't the Tunnel of Love…_

**Ohohohoho….the joy of irregular updates! Warning; updates will be MUCH farther apart when I'm writing, and not editing!!!!!!**

**Thanks to: **

**Bookworm700, Dwarg91, ..x, Howling-moon-wolf, , and RaNdOmGeEk!!!!**


	15. Hunter's Wrath

**Hunter's Wrath**

**Right—didn't edit or touch this one at all. Good new to everyone is I'm working hard on chapter 20! Updates for this story will HOPEFULLY become a bit more regular. Please continue to inspire me to work on chapter 20! Any idea at all, please send them! (also, I'm going to begin putting the chapter titles at the top :D haha)**

"Spawn of Satan?" I gasped at the dark, gory billboard advertising the ride Sam and I were in line for, "That sounds cheery…"

"I hear this is one of the most intense roller coasters in the world!" Sam told me, sounding really charged for the ride, "It's so fast, three out of four people have to have their spinal cords realigned after riding it,"

_'Well that's a pleasant image,'_ I thought, a little amused that I was able to have this conversation with Sam. God knows Tucker would probably pass out at that thought, though probably more from thinking about how much time he'd have to spend in a hospital after that then anything else.

"Can't be any worse then being dragged around by an enraged dragon ghost bareback through a crowded mall by the foot it has in its jaws." I said out loud. Sam looked a little put out when I said that.

"You're no fun…" She muttered in an annoyed tone, sulking to herself. I laughed a little, knowing that she was definitely hoping to gross me out with that one. "Okay, tough guy, what's your favorite horror movie?" she asked.

"Would you smack me if I told you it was Sixth Sense?" I couldn't help myself, I had to ask…

"Probably," Sam responded, grinning slightly. I had to shake my head at that, a little impressed by how open Sam was with me about who she was and how she felt. I really had to respect that kind of honesty, even though I couldn't return it because of my secret… "Seriously, though."

"Seriously?" I repeated, coming out of my thoughts to mull over the question a bit. "I'd have to say Silence of the Lambs. I'm a sucker for Steven King…" Sam's face lit up before I finished talking.

"Me too!" She said, clearly excited that we had that in common, "I must've read Salem's Lot a million times!"

"Really?" I laughed a little despite myself. After all, how weird was this conversation? Especially between a half ghost and the normal, human girl he happened to like, and maybe even have been technically dating in his human form. The relationship was still kinda fuzzy, though, so I'd probably have to ask her about it next time I saw her as Danny… "I liked Firestarter better… though Cujo was my second favorite." That was for another reason all together, though…

"Next!" The guy running the ride yelled out. Before I could say or do anything, Sam was already dragging me to the ride, looking charged and ready to go. After we found a pair of seats, Sam and I buckled in and got ready for the ride to start. I relaxed slightly, smiling to myself. After all, nothing bad had happened yet. Maybe things would go right for me for once in my life…

"You okay, Val?" My smile fell and I paled at my best friend's voice. Not so much because Tuck was there as because he was there with Valerie, who had vowed to kill Danny Phantom in twenty different ways and happened to be an experience ghost hunter with a nasty arsenal and the training of a ninth degree black belt.

And I was stuck as Phantom right now, with no way of changing back that wouldn't let Sam in on my secret in a really, REALLY public place.

"Ah, fine," Valerie told Tucker in a vague sort of way, meaning her attention wasn't really on him, "It's just… well, never mind, it's nothing." I felt my face burn red at that, and sank as far into my seat as I could to keep the ghost hunter from seeing me. I was willing to bet the whole Fenton arsenal that whatever had distracted her like that was ghost related, and it probably had something to do with me.

_'If I _**EVER**_ find Murphy's ghost in the Ghost Zone, I am SO teaching the jerk a lesson!' _I promised myself in my head as I tried to think of a way that I could get out of this situation before it turned ugly.

"Is there a problem?" Sam asked me, concern clear in her voice as she watched me with focused violet eyes.

"No," I said as quietly as I could, not wanting either Valerie or Tucker to overhear me and make things worse. Valerie hadn't pulled her guns out yet, so she obviously didn't know where I was, even if she knew I was there. "Everything's fine!" Sam looked doubtful, but didn't say anything, which I was definitely grateful for. This wasn't a very good setting for a confession, after all…

_'I've got to talk to Tucker later about warning me when he has dates with Valerie.'_ I thought dryly as the roller coaster aid finished checking restraints and went back to the front to give us the usual rules about keeping our hands and feet inside the roller coaster at all times and everything like that.

How my life always managed to throw me into the worst coincidences imaginable was something that was really starting to bug me. I mean, Johnny 13 probably had better luck then I did, even with that stupid shadow of his. After all, at least he could keep a steady girlfriend…

_'I'm really starting to think I'm just being manipulated for someone else's amusement,'_ I added to myself as the roller coast clicked up the first hill, _'And if I EVER find out who is doing all this to me, it's not gonna be pretty…'_

"I think that girl right in front of my blew out my ears…" I grumbled as I smacked at my ears to try and regain my hearing faster, for once cursing how sensitive my senses were as a ghost. Who knew someone could scream that loud…?

On the other hand, I got away from Valerie without her recognizing me or Sam. I was lucky Sam didn't think to say anything to them, either, since I know she heard them if she was sitting right next to me and I heard them that well.

"Aw, come on," Sam laughed at me, linking my elbow with hers, "Don't tell me you're that much of a wimp? I would've thought you'd be used to people screaming around you by now…" I shot the girl a dirty look there.

_'Now that was just a low blow!' _

"Thanks," I said in a sarcastic way, earning another laugh from Sam. "You really know how to make a guy feel loved…"

"What can I say, it's a gift," Sam chirped, flashing me another one of her wide, open smiles I was starting to fall in love with, "Hungry?"

"Starved," I replied, finding it a little funny that she didn't even think to ask whether or not ghosts ate. "You?"

"I could go for a salad." She answered as we sat down at a free table. I was a little surprised about that one, though I probably shouldn't have been.

"Just a salad?" I blurted out before I thought of what I was saying, "That's it? No wonder you're so small…" I stopped short there, blushing and cringing at that stupid, STUPID remark.

_'Oh, real smooth, Fenton.'_

"Ah… I, uh, didn't mean that the way that sounded…" I said, backing away slightly. Any guy knows that weight comments are forbidden under punishment of death, after all.

"Relax," Sam gave an easy laugh, "I'm not big on the whole body image thing anyways. The reason I eat salad is because I'm a strict ultra-recyclo vegetarian."

_'…Huh?'_

"Come again?" I asked blankly. That was one I'd never heard of before, after all. Sam grinned, looking almost happy that I didn't know what the word meant.

"Ultra-recyclo vegetarian," She said again, "I don't eat anything with a face,"

"I thought that was a Vegan?" I asked, getting even more confused. One of Jazz's friends was a strict Vegan, and she gave me this whole huge lecture on vegetarian diets, everything from the extremists like Vegans and Fruititarians to the Piecetarians. I must've missed this one, though…

"There's a few differences," Sam explained to me, "Vegans don't eat any animal products whatsoever, no milk, no cheese, no eggs. I still have some dairy, but no eggs and everything I eat is organic."

"Uh, okay…" I said, still a little confused. I got all the vegetarian stuff, now it was only the creepy coincidence that was bugging me…

"Too much for you to handle?" Sam challenged. I rolled my eyes before smirking at her pointedly.

"Cute," I told her dryly. "And no, it wasn't. I was just wondering why every one of the two Sams I know is a vegetarian." I blinked in surprise when Sam winced before stiffening up in what was obviously a defensive way.

_'What's that about…?'_

"How did you know that Danny's roommate was a vegetarian too?" Sam asked me suspiciously. Not it was my turn to freeze.

"Uh…" I said, thinking as fast as I could, "Danny told me?"

_'Wow, that was lame,'_ I told myself bitterly, kicking the back of my head. Sam still looked a little skeptical, but didn't say anything. I quickly turned to a new subject before she changed her mind and asked me anyways.

"Anyways, I don't have any money on me right now, so you're probably going to have to foot the bill this time," I grinned guiltily, "I'd help, but I don't exactly carry my wallet in my hazmat…"

"That's cool with me," Sam responded, pulling a wallet out of her skirt pocket, "I mean, it's not like this is the Middle Ages or something… What should I get you?"

"Pizza's good," I replied. "I'm really not that picky…" Sam rolled her eyes at that for some reason, and I wondered if I'd said something wrong. I didn't know how someone could get offended over something like that, but I have people out there who wanted to kill me for less…

…It's sad that I can actually admit that to myself in all seriousness…

"Got it." Sam responded, walking away. I watched her until she made her way up to the counter before turning my attention to the crowd, scanning around and examining the faces of anyone I thought I recognized.

After all, now I knew Valerie was around here somewhere, and she was probably on guard looking for me, too. I didn't like fighting the ghost hunter at all, not even before I started to get along with her as Phantom. Still, the more I didn't want to fight, the more Valerie seemed to show up, ecto-guns charged and temper flaring.

_'How a guy with Tucker's big mouth and a girl with Valerie's hair-trigger temper could date each other without a homicide taking place still baffles me.' _I thought with a slight chuckle. _'Especially considering Valerie's martial arts expertise, too…' _

Having been on the receiving end of a lot of those attacks, I knew that Valerie wasn't kidding about being a ninth degree black belt in at least one style of hand-to-hand combat. That was all thanks to Vlad's new technology that allowed her suit to negate the effects of intangibility, which made it harder to get away from Valerie without hurting her.

_'Then again, that's probably what Vlad meant to happen…'_ I told myself bitterly, by mood darkening at the thought of the older half ghost. _'I just wish I knew what he was planning on using Valerie for… he's got to have some big plan for her somewhere down the line…'_

I sighed heavily. It was always hard for me to figure out Vlad's plans until it was already way too late, but I didn't want that to happen this time around. Valerie was my friend, and my best friend and one of the few people who actually put up with all this ghost hunting crap happened to like her a lot. I didn't want her to be used like that if I could find a way to stop it first.

_'Then again, stopping it is the problem…'_ I was tempted to go to Clockwork and ask him what he thought, but that felt like it would be… I dunno… cheating or something.

I think somewhere in the back of my mind, I'd always seen Vlad as my own personal challenge, something I had to overcome on my own. I wasn't sure if that was pride, or whatever, but I needed to know that I could beat Vlad without either of us relying on anyone but ourselves.

Maybe it was stupidity, or the fact that I saw him as everything that I was fighting so hard not to be, but there was no way I could ever let Vlad win, and no way I'd let someone else do my thinking for me, not even someone I trusted like Clockwork.

_**"!" **_I jerked around in surprise at the loud scream, half expecting a surprise attack and faltering in shock when I saw a soda drenched Paulina with Sam standing right next to her.

"Oops!" I heard Sam say loudly, "Sorry about that! Total accident. I can really be a klutz sometimes…." Paulina scowled at Sam, not buying the apology at all. Or not caring, either way, she was still really angry…

"You!" She yelled at Sam angrily, "Look what you've done! Do you have any idea how much this outfit COST me?" I frowned, wondering how the outfit was any different then her usual one. It looked exactly the same, after all…

"Oops," Sam said again, this time adding, "I'll pay for everything of course…" Paulina glanced at Sam and her face changed from angry to mocking.

"Like you could afford it!" She sneered coldly.

_'She didn't need to make a comment like that,' _I thought, frowning as I made my way over to help Sam. It was an accident, after all, so there was no reason for Paulina to flip out like this…

"Hey," I called out, stepping between the girls, "Take it easy, Paulina. Sam said she was sorry." Paulina glared at me, not looking all that happy that was taking Sam's side. Then again, guys usually did whatever Paulina told them to, so she probably wasn't used to it.

"And why should I-?" Paulina stopped, her glare changing into a confused, thoughtful look. "Wait… Do I know you? You sound familiar…" I winced a little there.

_'Oops…'_

"That doesn't matter!" Sam said loudly as she jumped in out of nowhere to stand between me and Paulina, "Look, just tell me how much I owe you so we can all go on our way!" I tensed as Paulina scowled at Sam, knowing that it wouldn't be that easy for us to get away now.

"Like, what is WITH you?" The cheerleader snapped, crossing her arms.

"Nothing!" Sam shouted back, "I just want to get this over with so I can hang out with my friend like we planned!"

"You guys aren't going anywhere," Sam and I turned around when we heard someone else come into the fight, and I groaned mentally when I came face to face with a grinning Dash, who was busy crashing his knuckled threateningly.

_'Great, now he's pounding on me even when he doesn't know it's me!'_ I thought sourly as Dash grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me into the air. _'And Liz is gonna kill me for stretching this shirt out…'_

"You might wanna step back," I heard Sam tell someone, stepping out of the way. That was definitely good for me, since now I didn't have to worry about her getting her, but I was a little surprised she was just gonna sit by and let me fight him.

Then again, I still never found out why she'd punched him out at the dance. Maybe that had something to do with it.

"I don't want to fight you," It wasn't exactly true. Getting a chance to pound Dash into fine dust was definitely up there on my list of things I really wanted to do, but I definitely didn't want to fight him as Phantom in a crowded amusement park with a ghost hunter hovering around somewhere.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to fight me either if I were you!" Dash sneered, getting ready to punch me.

_'Well, I tried,_' I told myself, mentally shrugging.

Grabbing Dash's arm, I turned the shirt he was holding me by intangible for a quick flash before pushing off where I'd grabbed him and flipping over his head to land on the other side of the jock, smirking at the murmuring this earned from everyone watching.

_'Oh yeah, gotta love ghost reflexes…' _

"Cool!" a kid standing next to Sam said loudly, grinning at me, "Man, that was AWESOME!"

Dash must've realized what had happened then, since he twisted around to face me. But the same weird feeling I got at the test your strength thing came back and I could 'see' Dash's fist coming before he even started to turn. I got away from the attack, but not quick enough to save my glasses from falling off. I heard someone in the crowd gasp loudly, but ignored it, knowing that Dash was all I needed to worry about right now.

_'If I don't get out of here with my identity intact, I'm so filling Dash's room with garbage from every dumpster in a mile of Casper,'_ I thought sourly as I dodged a few more punches, never throwing anything back. I knew how what would look on me if someone here recognized me…

I smirked a little as Dash got angry, the punches he was throwing getting wilder with way too much energy being put into them. A few kids in the crowd started to laugh, but I ignored them and the loud screaming about something being 'Cold.' Dash was my only problem right now, since all I could do was wait until he wore himself out trying to hit me.

_'This is so easy, it's almost sad…'_ I thought to myself, smiling a little. Dash noticed this, and it didn't improve his mood in the least.

_**"WILL YOU HOLD STILL?"**_ He yelled loudly, making my ears ring. I cringed at that, since they were still sensitive after that ride Sam dragged me onto.

"You know, for some reason, that isn't so appealing to me…" I shot back with a pointed look, making Dash growl.

That was when I heard the charging ecto-gun, though it was too late to move.

The blast got me in the back, and I couldn't stop my yell of pain as I was forced off my feet and into Dash, knocking us both to the ground. As I sat there, wondering how Dash managed to work out enough that hitting a brick wall at high velocity was probably safer then falling into to him like that, I heard some people in the crowd gasp and belatedly realized I'd lost my hat.

Turning around, I scowled up at Valerie as she glared back, her smoking ecto-cannon sitting against her shoulder to avoid putting too much pressure on her arm. How she had gotten away from Tucker and found me I didn't know or care, but I couldn't let Valerie know I was there with Sam. I knew the ghost hunter well enough to know she'd look into any possible links to Phantom, and I didn't want to put the Goth on the spot like that.

"Picking fights with innocent people now, ghost?" Valerie accused, her glare hardening.

_'What's she talking about?'_ I wondered for a second, before I realized she wrongly thought (As usual.) that I had started that fight with Dash to pick on the jock or something.

"Aww, crud…" I muttered, knowing that that was how the story was gonna go now no matter what I said to defend myself. Glaring up at Valerie, I called back, "Can't you find someone else to stalk for a change?"

"Don't hold your breath, ghost boy!" The ghost hunter said shortly. "I'm finishing you off once and for all!"

"I was afraid of that…" I sighed, flying into the air to begin the fight I had wanted to avoid. Glancing around quickly, I realized it was dangerous to have this kind of rematch around so many innocent people, so I decided to lure Valerie away before anything happened, "Too bad that means catching me first!"

I shot away as fast as I could, Valerie following me without pause, not firing her gun just yet. That told me she either had the same idea I did, or she was just saving ammo for a clear shot.

_'I would trade half my powers to be able to read minds right now…'_ I thought dryly as I flew towards the lake, which probably wasn't that crowded today.

Then again, that would probably take half the fun out of life…

I couldn't help but smirk a little as I dodged a few blasts from Valerie's ecto gun, one of them ruffling my hair in its wake.

_'Well, her aim's getting better…'_ I thought dryly, glancing back at the ghost hunter warily. She'd already shot my arm up pretty good. It was still stinging, which was a good sign that the dart she'd used probably had some kind of poison. _'I just hope it's not that one from Skulker again…'_

"You'll have to do better then that!" I called out to her, flying upside down so I could see what Valerie would do. I yelped slightly when she shot at me again, splitting myself so the blast never touched me.

"Don't worry, ghost boy!" Valerie called back, "I will!"

I skimmed the top of the water as Valerie shot off a laser blast behind me, twisting and turning to avoid what would probably be a painful blast. Mentally sighing, I tried to think of a way to get away without hurting Valerie.

It was only when I saw the forest next to the lake that I finally got an idea.

"Hope your jet sled works underwater, hunter!" I yelled back to Valerie as I turned invisible, ducking into the water as I did so. I already had a pretty good idea that none of Valerie's weapons were water proof, since Vlad probably never considered that she'd have to fight me underwater.

Still intangible so I wouldn't have to fight the water's resistance, I shot in the direction of the forest, coming out from under the ground behind a tree and turning human again. After Valerie finally left (After a lot of frustrated yelling and cursing.) I grinned and headed out, making my way to the main path that would take me to the school…

"Little late for wandering around, ain't it?"

Jumping, I turned around, coming face to face with my art teacher.

"Mr. Marchez?" I said, surprised. Mr. Marchez frowned at me before his eyes widened when they landed on my arm where Valerie had shot me.

"Damn, kid! What happened to you?" Why had I been hearing that question so much lately…?

"Nothing," I said, trying to hide the wound, "It's just a scratch…"

"Lemme see," Mr. Marchez ordered. I hesitated for a second, but when Mr. Marchez gave me a pointed look, I reluctantly held out my arms for him to examine. He frowned as he examined it thoughtfully. "Nasty scratch, Dan. Poison makes it worse, though…"

"You can tell?" I blurted out in surprise before I could stop myself.

"I used to work as an army doctor, kid," Mr. Marchez said absently, "I know war wounds, and you musta been in one hell of a fight if the other guy was using lethal darts."

_'…Aw, crud…'_ I thought, cringing at Mr. Marchez's unreadable look.

"I…" I started, my head feeling fuzzy. "I uh…" I never finished, groaning as I pitched forward, Mr. Marchez caught me before I hit the ground.

"Dan?" He said, his voice getting fuzzy, "Dan? Danny!" I only vaguely heard my teacher add a soft curse to that before a blissful darkness overcame me…

**Thankyou to:**

**Gantex, o-Silentsong-o, Darianella, laughing senseless, howling-moon-wolf, starkiss666, zoey-in-da-house, merklin, iggy is sweet, king inuyasha, darkingfire, snazzy123, minirowan, hechicera-23, epobbp, dwarg91, Love Samedi and bluemoonspot7!!!! **


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